CHILD
TRAINING
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CHILD TRAINING
Pliotograpli by Bachracli
HABIT DRILL
"Untangling a Snarl"— Training in patience, persistence, attenti
on, etc
CHILD TRAINING
A SYSTEM OF EDUCATION FOR
THE CHILD UNDER SCHOOL AGE
BY
V. M. HILLYER
HEAD MASTER OF CALVERT SCHOOL
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
57834
Copyright, 191 5, by
The Century Co.
Published, January, igj^
Printed in U. S. A.
H-55e
TO
THE MEMORY OF
R. K. H,
^
PREFACE
This book sets forth a system of training for a
child under school age and lays out a course of lessons
and drills that can be given a class or an individual
by either the trained or the untrained teacher or par-
ent.
It may recall the principles or theories of Come-
nius, Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Herbart, Froebel,
James and others, but its practical applications are the
result of many years' specializing in the education of
young children.
It aims to avoid the faults so common in child
training — sentimentality, effeminacy, emotionalism,
mysticism, license under the guise of freedom, exag-
geration of the unimportant or trivial, the attaching
of imaginary value to the symbolic.
It emphasizes Drill and the Formation of Habits,
the Cultivation of Qualities and Development of
Powers by Drill.* It aims to produce children who
will be more observant and attentive, with more orig-
inality, more initiative and sharper wits, who will think
and act more quickly, be better informed and more
accomplished, more skilful with their hands, more
courteous and considerate of others, and above all,
•Popular expressions such as "powers and faculties," though not strictly
psychological, have, for the sake of simplicity, been used throughout the
book,
vii
Preface
healthier animals. It should furthermore have a re-
active effect on the teacher or parent who gives the
course, instilling similar habits and qualities or re-
newing those obliterated by disuse and neglect.
vni
INTRODUCTION
Success, mediocrity, or failure in life is usually
due to only slight differences in education or charac-
ter, not to any remarkable or notable variation. Just
a little more of this quality or just a little less of
that and we have individuals between whom there is
a wide gulf financially, politically or socially. The
ten dollar a week bookkeeper and the thousand dollar
a week railroad president may have precisely the same
preliminary education and display personally very
similar characteristics. Both can read and write,
both can spell, both can figure and it would be pretty
safe to say that in these fundamentals the bookkeeper
could do as well if not better than the railroad presi-
dent. The thing that does differentiate the one from
the other it may be difficult to isolate and name —
still more difficult to measure, but it will be found in
some physical or mental power or ability — not in any
school acquirement or information. One man's su-
perior success may be attributable to his initiative, per-
sistence or industry, another's to his critical attitude
of mind or to his dependability, while still another's
is due merely to a cordial manner, or to his ability to
say " no " to himself and to others.
ix
Introduction
And yet In elementary education we set such great
store by reading and writing which all children must
learn and do learn nowadays, which are essential for
one to have like air and water, but no credit to have
from the very fact that everybody has them. It is
no credit to a man that he can sign his own name
but a disgrace if he has to make "his mark."
Whether a child learns to read at four or eight, in a
month or a year, whether he is taught by the Pho-
netic, Synthetic, Analytic or any other method is of
little consequence; he will now learn to read eventu-
ally and in good time in any civilized community — •
but whether he observes accurately, has self confi-
dence, the habit of initiative, an analytical mind, is
skilful with his hands, can think and act quickly, is
courteous and thoughtful of others — are things he
may never acquire unless by direct drill and things
which will be the ultimate deciding factors between
his future success, mediocrity or failure. These hab-
its and qualities should, therefore, not be inciden-
tals in education — they are the things that should be
done, while other things such as the three R's should
not be left undone.
It is all right to postpone reading and writing
till the child is six or seven or even older, but the
numberless qualities and habits that go to make up
character should be started with the start of Hfe.
The first seven years are the most important of all
X
Introduction
ir: setting this bias, for life's route is one of a num-
ber of divergent roads. If the child takes the wrong
one at the outset, each step along that road carries
him farther and farther away from the right one
and by the time he is seven he is so far along, that
to get on the right road either he must retrace all his
steps and start anew, falling hopelessly behind in life's
race by this doubling on his course, or else he must
cut across country with the fair prospect of losing
the way entirely, getting on still another wrong road
or never finding the right one at all. For example,
a child who has had his own way, or pretty nearly
his own way, from infancy till the age of seven, is
so far along on the wrong road that it is almost a
hopeless task to set him back and have him start on
the right road of obedience. It follows, therefore,
that to let the child " run wild " those first years is
either criminal neglect or incompetence. The parent
that does so is either lazy or ignorant, or more often
both. Parents, as a rule, are sentimentally optimis-
tic — " Oh, it will come out right in the end," they
say. It may and we pray the good angel that watches
over children that it may, but if left to chance it is
not likely to do so.
Every normal mother wishes her child to be a bet-
ter and wiser man than any she has known; she has
visions of greatness for him, a career as " doctor,
lawyer, merchant, chief," she dreams dreams and
xi
Introduction
plans for him a future in which he figures as a superla-
tive character. More often than not, however, dream-
ing is as far as the matter goes whereas only effort
will make such dreams come true.
For the first two or three 3^ears the mother is al-
most exclusively occupied, and properly so, with the
child's feeding, personal hygiene and physical care,
though it is a common experience to receive letters
appealing for educational help even at this period.
Up to this time she has had recourse to treatises on
infant feeding and care and these have furnished all
the information and instruction necessary beyond that
which maternal instinct, very strong at this period,
has supplied.
By the age of three or four, however, the child
has learned to speak and has usually been instructed
by the doting mother and a proud father in the choice
of certain words and expressions, taught to count
his fingers, to tell his right from his left hand, to
speak " pieces " and to sing some songs for exhibition
purposes. About this time, however, the mother be-
gins to feel the need of educational help and advice.
The child must be doing something, his intellectual
life demands attention and the appeal is strong for a
systematic course of training that will direct his na-
tive wits into worth-while channels, develop his men-
tal side and educate him.
But the mother is at a loss to whom or to what to
xii
Introduction
turn. Against the methods and courses known to her
she may have well founded prejudice. They may be
too metaphysical, symbolical, not concrete enough for
specific application. The objects aimed at may seem
too mystical and elusive for the common sense, even
prosy child of every day life. It is usually a better
working basis to consider the child a " chip of the
old block" than "a manifestation of the divine" or
" a part of the infinite."
Furthermore, the information acquired may be en-
tirely too abstract and remote from child nature.
Cylinders and prisms have no importance or interest
for the child as geometrical solids nor otherwise than
building blocks. A knowledge of their names, proper-
ties and relation is not to be compared in either interest
or value to that which horses, cows, butterflies or
steam engines possess for a child.
Or the education may not be well rounded and com-
prehensive— only special features may be empha-
sized or only a few phases of the child's life be pro-
vided for.
Again, the education may seem to teach the child
merely to play and the mother may not see the ad-
vantage or the object of such training. She is told
that his plays and games, and other occupations make
him more this or that, or the other thing, but she can-
not see the results and they seem to her more or less
mythical.
xiii
Introduction
Moreover, elementary training has not given suffi-
cient weight or regard to sex differences. The educa-
tion that is suitable for the girl is too feminine for
the normal father's son. Sex characteristics are clearly
marked as early as three years of age, and what is
suitable and appeals to girls is unsuitable and even
repulsive to the normal boy. Not to regard such sex
distinction tends to make amorphous individuals and
there is even danger of sex perversion. The boy who
likes to play with dolls or at being a mother bird is an
anomaly that should not be encouraged.
Therefore, to the average mother skeptical of such
training, elementary education means reading and
writing and perhaps some figuring, and so she sets to
work to teach the child his A, B, C's long before such
knowledge possesses any value for him, and little or
no attention is paid to the many and varied other sides
of the child's development and instruction.
The following system of " child training " is there-
fore offered in the hope that it may help the mother
in realizing the high ideals she cherishes in her breast.
Though the course is primarily intended for the child
under school age, it may be acquired by a child of any
age and should be so acquired if it has not already
been.
Its most important feature is the Formation of
Habits, physical, mental and moral ; the Cultivation
of Desirable Qualities and the Development of Powers
xiv
Introduction
— not indirectly, incidentally or by roundabout meth-
ods but by direct drills.
The nerve cells — more properly the neurons — do
not increase in man beyond the number he is born
with, and " sense training " and " memory training "
are impossible, if by that we mean increasing or de-
veloping the keenness of the senses, or the native re-
tentive power of the mind. Our brain power, how-
ever, is increased by the increasing number of paths
that connect the neurons and these paths can be in-
creased. In other words, mental training is gained
by increasing the association of ideas, by acting and
reacting on them, by forming habits of attention, con-
centration, etc., by persistent practice in the direction
we wish to excel. // you stimulate and exercise the
brain cells properly you can develop almost any habits,
abilities, tastes, facidties, you may zvish.
The chief mental trouble with children, as well as
with grown-ups, is lazymindedness. To force the mind
into activity is therefore the first object of this train-
ing.
To those accustomed to the easy going, do-pretty-
much-as-you-please methods of early instruction, much
of the following work may seem too difficult, advanced
or even impossible of acquisition by a young child but
this impression is because they are unaccustomed to
drill such as described in this book.
There is no such thing as making brain paths in
XV
Introduction
a hurry, but paths develop more rapidly when we
are young, increasingly slowly as we grow old. Hence
the inestimable importance of early forming of brain
paths.
If you start early enough there are hardly any abili-
ties that cannot be acquired, no matter what heredi-
tary traits are to the contrary. Demosthenes, though
handicapped by an impediment in his speech, there-
fore hereditarily unfit for an orator, became the great-
est that history has ever recorded.
If you start too late there is hardly any great abil-
ity that can be acquired, no matter what hereditary
traits predispose to it. No great musician, I believe,
was ever made who started later than six years of
age on the course of his art.
But it is not for the future alone, it is also for
the present results that the following training is in-
tended. It is to make children that will be a blessing
— a joy to be with and a delight to have with you
and, what is equally important, a delight to others as
well.
XVI
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
CONDITIONS FOR TRAINING
A GROUP of your own and your neighbor's children
between the ages of four and six, gathered together
in your home, is the best arrangement for the train-
ing described in this book.
The home is the best place, because pre-school train-
ing is best given under the normal conditions and in
the usual surroundings of everyday life. The idea
of school, of a class or of a room especially set apart
and equipped for lessons, is unfavorable to the best
development. The nearer to the heart of the home,
to the bosom of the family, the richer is the environ-
ment, and the nearer the child is to the center of his
world. If, therefore, such a meeting-place is not feas-
ible, then the conditions of the home should be simu-
lated as far as possible.
A group is best, because, as Quintilian long ago
pointed out, training with one's fellows — social life
" — is necessary for the best all-around development.
Such a group of children should partake of the nature
of a child's party or social gathering, and the various
activities should only help to foster this idea. The
parent or teacher then becomes merely a social di-
rector, training the child for proper living with and
xvii
General Instructions
among his fellows. This, however, should not be con-
strued to mean that the child's life should be all play;
by no means — but work and play — business and
pleasure — as in the home and family.
THE COURSE OF TRAINING
The course of training that follows is divided into
e^ight parts according to the general character of the
activities that make up a child's daily life, and a sep-
arate chapter is devoted to each part. These different
2 ctivities are not clear cut however — physical at one
time, mental at another, moral at still another — but,
a.s in life, overlapping and merged. These eight divis-
ions of the course are as follows:
1 [abit Drills (Obedience, Observation, Attention,
Concentration, etc.)
To form character and a basis for future edu-
tional work.
l:-ociAL Training (Common Courtesies, Conversa-
tion)
To give training in courtesy, in bearing and for-
bearing, in language and expression.
To stimulate action and reaction.
I:' TORY Telling
To present models for emulation.
To fire ambition.
To incite the imagination, etc.
xviii
General Instructions
Physical Training (Exercises, Calisthenic Drills,
Marches)
To develop the body, form proper habits of car-
riage, correct wrong tendencies — round shoul-
ders, bad postures, etc. — and to give poise, self-
control and ability to handle oneself.
Rhythmic Arts (Rimes, Songs, Singing Games, Folk
Dances)
To train in rhythmic appreciation, dramatic ex-
pression, and to give the child a repertoire of
rimes, songs and dances.
Free Play (Plays and Games)
To teach principles of fair play and good sports-
manship, and what and how to play, as well
as to give exercise and joy.
To train in alertness, speed, ingenuity, skill, ac-
curacy, etc.
Manual Training (Modeling, Painting, Drawing,
etc.)
To develop manual skill and dexterity — the abil-
ity to " do things " with one's hands.
To form habits of industry, persistence, precision,
neatness, etc.
Information
To impart a knowledge of some of the funda-
meritals in nature, science, art, etc., including
the beginnings of reading, writing and arith-
metic.
xix
General Instructions
ROUTINE OF TRAINING
First of all, it is necessary to reduce the child's life
to a routine — to a daily program — and adhere to it
— to have a time for his work, for his play and for
his other functions. Such a regulated life makes for
the best present and future happiness of both the child
and family.
The parent or foster parent should, therefore, adopt
one of the following suggested programs, or arrange
one to suit the special conditions, and carry out in
each period the drill, occupation, business or activity
as directed in the chapter dealing with that activity.
Each day she should use one or more lessons or drills
from each of the eight Parts, the course proceeding
through all the Parts simultaneously, not progress-
ing from page to page through the book.
In the case of a single child, or children in the
same family, to be trained at home, there should be
a definite daily period set aside for each of the eight
kinds of activities — comprising in this case all of the
child's waking hours, as suggested in the special pro-
gram that follows. In other words, living and train-
ing should go hand in hand. It will be seen from
this statement, therefore, that the idea of school in
which there is constant direction or surveillance is
not to be thought of, and that the Free Play will
form a very large part of the day. The Habit Train-
XX
General Instructions
ing should go on at all times, in rising, in dressing,
at meals, at play, and not be limited to the special
time set apart for drills in the regular program.
In the case of a group of children from different
homes, a concentrated program limited to two or three
hours must of necessity be followed, but this should not
relieve the parent from seeing to it that each child
carries out the principles that have been inculcated —
especially the habit drills, for in no case will two or
three hours of drill counteract the effect that a dozen
hours or so of license or contrary training in the
home will have.
In any case, therefore, the parent must be conver-
sant with the course of training and cooperate in it.
She cannot shift the entire responsibility, and the
teacher must acquaint the parent with the nature of
the training and call upon her to see that the child is
kept in practice at home. Furthermore, when the
child enters school the parent should see to it that
the habits are kept up, otherwise the pre-school train-
ing will be undone and wasted.
METHOD OF TRAINING
Most of the directions for training the child precede
each group of activities and it will, of course, first be
necessary for the parent or teacher to become con-
versant with these preliminary explanations, especially
the one on Habit Drills, as the whole system rests on an
xxi
General Instructions
understanding of the nature and importance of habits
and the psychological method of forming them.
But there is a most important general principle to
note here — Good Spirit is essential to all successful
training and teaching. Get the child into a happy,
interested mood, ambitious to do well, to excel and
the actual teaching or drilling will be a joy and the
maximum results will be accomplished with ease and
delight.
This does not mean, however, that tears are always
to be avoided. Some of the most valuable lessons of
life are learned at the expense of tears. Beethoven,
as a child, was made to practise the piano though the
tears were running down his face. Nevertheless there
is hardly any more important rule than this — Get the
child into a good spirit and keep him in a good spirit.
Though most of the instruction and explanation of
principles will be made at the time the occasion arises
for their use, that is, preceding each period, the ques-
tions of Moral Training, Punishments, Rewards, Speed
and Concentration are such general ones applying to
all periods that they will be considered at once.
MORAL TRAINING
Sooner or later almost every loving parent wakes
up some morning to find that his child, of whose up-
rightness, purity of mind, and untainted soul he was
absolutely certain, has committed some act that dis-
xxii
General Instructions
plays unbelievably shocking moral turpitude. If the
parent had not been overweeningly confident that " The
king could do no wrong," if he had not considered
moral training superfluous in his case, if he had not
neglected to drill the child in habits and fill his mind
with admiration of the right and abhorrence of the
wrong, the mischief should not have happened.
But if it has already happened the parent need not
be discouraged. All children have some degree of un-
regeneracy, of perversion, of the animal, as you your-
self know if you will only recall some of the thoughts
and even acts of your own childhood, of which you
may shudder now to think you could ever have been
guilty. This is not by way of palliation but by way
of encouragement. There is hope still for the boy
or girl.
Lying, cheating, stealing, are hard names for very
common faults of childhood, to which list must be
added ill temper, perversity, selfishness and thought-
lessness of others. There are four chief ways to cor-
rect these faults and to fashion the best type of
boyhood and girlhood —
1. By Appeal to Right,
2. By Suggestion, Building up Self-Respect,
3. By Story Telling,
4. By Drill in Proper Habits.
I. Appeal to child's sense of right, of what is fair
and square, straightforward, decent, truthful. Avoid
xxiii
General Instructions
the sentimental appeal. Threats of eternal damnation,
" the goblins will get you " or more concrete punish-
ments are all bad.
2. Suggestion may be made not only the greatest
preventive of wrong-doing but the greatest incentive
to right action and ambition. Appeal to the child's
pride; make the positive suggestion that he possesses
some desirable qualities or traits; this is the surest
method of bringing about the realization of such quali-
ties. Make him proud of his reputation for prompt-
ness, truthfulness, courage, of his erect bearing, courte-
ous manners, and, in order to maintain such record —
to live up to it — he will not cry when hurt, nor lie
to save himself from punishment; he will carry him-
self erect, he will be on time, he will put forth his best
effort to continue to excel. Therefore, whenever the
remark is apropos, say, either to him or to others in
his hearing,
" John is courageous."
" He is not afraid of the dark."
" He never cries when he hurts himself."
" He always does what he is told."
" He is very helpful."
" He is thoughtful of others."
" He can always be trusted."
" He stands very straight," etc.
In the course of time he will invariably try to live up
to the opinion held of him.
xxiv
General Instructions
Conversely, no contrary suggestion should ever be
made, as for example, "You are the worst child I
know." Human nature lives down, as well as up, to
its reputation.
3. Story Telling is another means of moral train-
ing— if stories are told that inspire emulation of a
model or fire ambition and a regular period is provided
for this. Imitation follows on admiration ; whatever
the child admires he consciously or unconsciously
imitates. If he admires a policeman he will want to
be a policeman; if the tight-rope walker at the circus,
he will try tight-rope walking. A child who lives with
heroes will become one himself, but good qualities must
be made attractive, bad ones unattractive, from the
child's standpoint. A story with a stated or an obvi-
ous moral is apt to be less effective than one where the
point is more subtle. Goody-goody tales and those
with an obvious moral are resented by a normal child,
or make pious little hypocrites, or sanctimonious Phari-
sees.
4. Drill in habits of obedience, self-control, com-
mon courtesies, etc., provide an active and positive
moral training. Provision is also made for these drills
in the course that follows.
PUNISHMENTS
If the foregoing means of moral training are put in
practice, and especially if the habit of obedience is
XXV
General Instructions
formed — and it is first of all the habits that are in-
culcated in this course — the necessity for punishment
is reduced to a minimum. When, however, the ne-
cessity for punishment does arise, and there is no
regime under which it does not and will not arise
at times, care should be taken that the punishment
is of the right kind and administered in the proper
spirit.
A child's offense should never be treated as an inten-
tional wrong but as a lapse which he will try never to
repeat, or a failing which he will strive to remedy.
If feasible, the child should first correct the trouble
or mischief he has caused, and then be put through
some ordeal that will either practise him in right do-
ing or impress the importance of right doing upon him,
so as to prevent the repetition of the offense.
If he acknowledges his sin or his fault, the teacher
or parent should first endeavor to have the child pass
judgment and pronounce sentence on himself. If thus
appealed to, the child will often be more severe on him-
self than even the teacher would be.
For example, the following hypothetical case should
be suggestive :
The child has been told he must not play with his
ball in the house. He does so and accidentally smashes
a vase. The following conversation illustrates the
ideal to be striven for though it is hardly to be expected
that a child will answer in the following way without
xxvi
General Instructions
suggestion from the parent and considerable practice
in right moral thinking —
Parent: Did n't I tell you not to play with your
ball in the house?
Child: Yes, father.
Parent: And you did, and broke a vase?
Child: Yes, father.
Parent: You disobeyed me. You see the result.
What do you think you ought to do about it?
Child: Never play with my ball in the house.
Parent: Yes, but won't you?
Child: I promise.
Parent: Yes, but what do you think you should do
to make sure you will never forget again ?
Child: Not play with my ball at all for a week.
Parent: Yes, but how will you make up for it?
Child: Take the pennies out of my penny bank and
buy mother a new vase.
Parent: Anything else?
Child: Tell her I'm sorry it happened.
The appeal to the child's sense of what is fair and
right or proper is the best appeal and will usually be
met in the proper spirit.
But even if the punishment is pronounced or inflicted
by the parent, it should be accepted by the child as
right and proper. If it leaves him ill-tempered, sin-
ister, revengeful or bitter, the proper effect is missing
xxvii
General Instructions
and the parent should not cease till the right spirit is
shown.
A child in a paroxysm of temper should not be
argued with. If overwrought and upset, weeping and
stubborn, he should either be left alone till the emo-
tional storm subsides or an attempt be made to dis-
tract his attention to something far off from the con-
cern that is causing him all the trouble.
A child should never for an instant be allowed to
say " I won't." With each repetition of " I won't,"
he becomes more assertive and more disobedient by
auto-suggestion. The very first time he says " I
won't," he should be summarily dealt with, forcibly
made to do what he " won't " and at once, so that he
may expect the same severe treatment should he ever
repeat the " I won't."
If the parent has made a point of having something
done, he must insist on its accomplishment, and the
child should never be permitted successfully to main-
tain opposition by force of tears or stubborn resist-
ance. If, as a result of his obstinacy, his emotional
state becomes extreme, the matter may be postponed
temporarily but should be concluded later without
fail.
Loosely to threaten, as many parents do, all sorts
of punishments without enforcing them but rarely, en-
courages disobedience and utterly demoralizes a child.
All warning threats are as a rule bad and should
xxviii
General Instructions
not be made without deliberation, but once made,
unless unjust, should be strictly adhered to and en-
forced. Be adamant in sticking to your ruling.
It is unnecessary to make the " punishment fit the
crime " in every case. Herbert Spencer's theory that
punishments should be " natural consequences " is not
practicable.
For the turbulent or rebellious spirit corporal pun-
ishment may be permissible, though usually the best
method is depriving rather than inflicting, the curtail-
ment of some pleasures — dessert, a story — or denial
of a privilege, such as entertaining a playmate.
There are several things punishments should not
be.
First, they should not merely penalize, they should
aim to be of future benefit; they should not merely
pay back an old score, but either correct the error or
prevent the recurrence of the wrong-doing.
Second, they should not shame nor humiliate, for the
most potent appeal that can be made is to a child's
self-respect and if the child loses this by being stood in
a corner, black listed, held up to ridicule, shamed be-
fore one whose approval he values, he will never have
quite the same spirit again.
Third, a scolding or " talking to " should not be a
sentimental appeal to hypocritical emotions — " You 're
breaking mother's heart," " I 'd rather be dead," etc.
Fourth, it is a mistake to impose the learning of les-
xxix
General Instructions
sons as a punishment, for in making studies a penalty
and a task, the possibility of the child ever loving his
work is spoiled.
REWARDS
All life is a striving after rewards. It may be for
money, a prize, power, the pleasure in winning, love,
honor, or simply the satisfaction in something well
done. The attempt to purge education of all rewards
is mere visionary sentimentalism. The more spiritual
rewards are, of course, the most desirable and mere
money or prize rewards the worst form, but that re-
ward should be used as a stimulus that is most effective
in bringing about the best results, in which must be
reckoned the effect on the child's character. Money
and prizes tend to make the child's motives sordid and
mercenary and for that reason should be used only as
the last resort with those to whom no other form of
reward will appeal, but even such children should be
gradually led to higher ambitions. Rewards that take
the form of honors or privileges are the best.
SPEED
One who can work twice as fast and play twice as
fast as another, can live two lives in one, and as the
object in life is to get the most we possibly can out of
it, speed is a most valuable asset. We all know how
much more rapidly one man works than another —
XXX
General Instructions
whether the work be physical or mental, or a combina-
tion of both. It is not at all unusual for one person
to accomplish twice as much as another in the same
time.
Haste is not desirable, but haste implies speed with-
out care. The child's common excuse, " I could have
done it if I only had had time," is no more an excuse
than to say, " I could have done it if I only had known
how." Speed is in most cases a requirement just as
essential as accuracy or any other excellence.
The ultimate possible development of speed for sim-
ple acts depends on one's reaction time and this varies
in individuals and cannot be materially altered by edu-
cation. If the operation is a simple recurrence of a
sequence of motions that may be reduced to a habit,
such as folding and enclosing letters in envelopes and
sealing and stamping them, the speed depends on one's
reaction time, pure and simple, to which fatigue or
effort are factors common to all tests for speed.
But for attending to a quantity of varying details,
such as general office work, general practice, etc., it
is necessary to have quick observation, quick judg-
ment, and the ability to eliminate, as well as quick ex-
ecution, and these qualities can be developed by edu-
cation.
The habit of speed may be formed by timing all cus-
tomary or routine acts and setting the child the object
of reducing this time. For actions requiring but a
xxxi
General Instructions
short time, counting out loud is an effective means of
hastening matters. Thus, in giving an order that is
Hkely to be dalHed over, say for instance,
" Take your place for calisthenic drill." Then
sharply count, "One! two! three! four!" and so on
till the last one is in place.
In giving fetching or finding orders the teacher
should always take count of the time, till the habit of
promptness is f cammed. Thus, if she wishes to have
a book brought from downstairs, she might say,
" I wonder who can get me my red book from the
library table in the quickest time."
All say, " I," of course.
*' Well, let 's see how long it will take Jack to get it.
One, two, three," etc.
A child in the family should likewise be timed for
dressing, undressing and performing any other habit-
ual activity, privileges being taken away or punish-
ments inflicted if the time exceeds a reasonable length,
or if an effort to reduce it is not apparent.
CONCENTRATION
Speed, except in the case of habitual acts, demands
concentration, therefore exacting speed exacts concen-
tration, and teaching speed teaches the habit of con-
centration. A boy untrained in concentration will
dawdle an hour over a sum that a trained boy will do
in sixty seconds.
xxxii
General Instructions
The most satisfactory means of securing concentra-
tion of mind and purpose is by setting a time limit or
making time an object. No other factor forces such
concentration as does limited time.
Some people are unable to concentrate at all until
brought to it by the stress of time shortage. At the
last moment before going in to the examination, be-
fore rising to speak, before the train leaves, before the
paper goes to press, then if ever, does one concentrate
on what has perhaps been neglected or put off until
then.
Therefore, in order to obtain concentration and form
the habit of concentrating, demand speed, make every
task a contest against time, or confer a privilege for
speedy completion of any task. Allow the child to
play as soon as his work is satisfactorily completed and
not until it is satisfactorily completed. For instance,
say, " Just as soon as you have finished this and it is
well done, you may do what you please."
Never name a definite period of time for the child
to keep at a task for that encourages dawdling and
lack of concentration. In the language of the shop,
demand " piece " work, not " time " work — the use of
the word " time " here connoting just the opposite of
speed. A workman paid by the day will invariably
take longer than one paid by the job, for in the former
case the premium is put on long time, in the latter,
short time is made an object.
xxxiii
General Instructions
In the case of a nervously disposed child, limited time
may at first aggravate the nervousness, but if the de-
mand for speed is persisted in nothing so effectively
puts a quietus on all nervous manifestations as this
same requirement, since only by eliminating all signs
of nervousness can the concentration necessary for the
greatest speed be secured. If, for instance, in the
needle threading exercise given among the habit drills
for attention, a child in the contest to get his needle
threaded first, jumps up and down in nervous excite-
ment, jiggles his arms, sputters and giggles as he gen-
erally does at first, he will be sure to lose. The speed
demanded requires that he conquer every erratic mo-
tion and act and concentrate on the one thing.
Teachers and parents are constantly speaking of the
value of concentration and of the necessity for a child
to learn first of all to concentrate. Now concentra-
tion is a habit of mind which some children form read-
ily or naturally, while others do so with great dif^culty.
In any case, however, the parent or teacher can in-
culcate this habit by insisting constantly that the child
attend to the matter in hand, by requiring that he dis-
regard all distracting things and by calling back his
attention whenever it wanders.
In addition, special drills are given in Part I to fos-
ter this habit.
xxxiv
PROGRAMS
The following programs are suggested to meet the
varying conditions of the training whether at school
or at home.
TWO TO THREE PIOURS' CONSECUTIVE PROGRAM
For one child or a class.
ist Period Social Training id to 15 minutes
(Information may be included here)
2nd Period Habit Drills i 5 to 20 minutes
^rd Period Story Telling 15 to 20 minutes
4th Period Physical Training 15 to 20 minutes
^th Period Rhythmic Arts 15 to 20 minutes
6th Period Free Play 20 to 40 minutes
yth Period Manual Training 20 to 30 minutes
Sth Period Information 10 to 15 minutes
(May be included in ist Period J
consecutive and scattered program
For one child or children in same family.
1st Period Habit Drills 15 to 20 minutes
2nd Period Manual Training 20 to 30 minutes
XXXV
Programs
3rc? Period Physical Training 15 to 20 minutes
4th Period Rhythmic Arts 15 to 20 minutes
^th Period Information 10 to 15 minutes
At Table and Play Social Training
At Bed Time Story Telling
All the Time Habit Drills
Betzueen Times Free Play
scattered program
For one child only — or children in same family.
On Rising
At Breakfast
During Morning
At Luncheon
During Afternoon
At Supper
After Supper
Between Times
All the Time
Physical Training
Social Training
Habit Drills
Information
Social Training
Manual Training
Rhythmic Arts
Social Training
Story Telling
Free Play and Habit Drills
Habit Drills
xxxvi
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS xvii
CONDITIONS FOR TRAINING xvii
THE COURSE OF TRAINING xviii
ROUTINE OF TRAINING xx
METHOD OF TRAINING xxi
MORAL TRAINING xxii
PUNISHMENTS xxv
REWARDS XXX
SPEED XXX
CONCENTRATION xxxii
PROGRAMS XXXV
PART I. HABIT DRILLS . 3
NATURE OF HABITS 3
FORMING OF HABITS j
BREAKING OF HABITS 10
PURPOSE AND METHOD OF HABIT DRILLS .... 12
OBEDIENCE DRILLS I^
ORDER AND NEATNESS DRILLS . 32
OBSERVATION DRILLS 3c
IMITATION DRILLS 53
ASSOCIATION DRILLS 65
IMAGINATION DRILLS 70
ATTENTION AND CONCENTRATION DRILLS • ■ • - T2,
81
FURTHER HABIT DRILLS
PART IL SOCIAL TRAINING
85
COMMON COURTESIES 88
CONVERSATION go
SPEECH ••••••.. xoo
xxxvii
Contents
PAGE
PART III. STORY TELLING 107
KIND OF STORIES 107
METHOD OF TELLING 1 10
LIST OF STORIES AND STORY BOOKS Ill
PART IV. PHYSICAL TRAINING 119
HEALTH REQUISITES II9
TABLE OF GROWTH 123
EXERCISES 123
PART V. RHYTHMIC ARTS 141
RIMES 141
SONGS 160
SINGING GAMES 162
FOLK DANCES 163
WORDS AND MUSIC OF SONGS 165
PART VL FREE PLAY 171
PLAYS, ATHLETIC 174
PLAYS, MANUAL 176
PLAYS, IMITATIVE 177
GAMES, WITHOUT APPARATUS 179
GAMES, WITH APPARATUS 181
PART VII. MANUAL TRAINING AND OCCUPA-
TIONS 185
AIMS 185
LEFT HANDEDNESS • • • 187
MANUAL TRAINING
CLAY WORK 190
COLOR WORK 193
DRAWING 198
PAPER FOLDING AND CUTTING 201
STRING WORK 209
WORK FOR SPECIAL SEASONS 212
THANKSGIVING 212
CHRISTMAS 213
ST. VALENTINE'S DAY 215
WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY 2l6
xxxviii
Contents
OCCUPATIONS p^GE
INDOORS 219
OUTDOORS 220
PART VIII. INFORMATION 223
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION 224
SAMPLE LESSON 226
INDEPENDENT RECITATION 228
QUIZ QUESTIONS 229
SYLLABUS OF INFORMATION LESSONS 230
READING AND WRITING 268
DIRECTIONS 271
BASAL SENTENCES 278
INDEX .... c . o .. c ... o o o ... 291
3CXX1X
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
" Untangling a Snarl " Frontispiece
" Dropping Medicine " 2
" Introducing " 84
" Tlie Story on a ' Willow ' Plate " 106
"Down, Up" 118
" Folk Dancing " 140
" Playing Tenpins " 170
" Paper Lantern and Pinwheel " 184
" Learning to Tell Time " 222
CHILD TRAINING
rbotograpti by Bachrach
HABIT DRILL
"Dropping Medicine" — Training in concentration, attention, muscular control, etc.
CHILD TRAINING
PART I
HABIT DRILLS
NATURE OF HABITS
The baby feeding himself for the first time car-
ries his spoon with rapt attention, but nevertheless by
a wobbly, uncertain and sloppy course from his bowl
to his mouth, spilling the contents impartially between
bib, chin and lips. Great have been the problems of
balance, poise, muscular coordination and the calcu-
lation of distance and direction to bring about this
tortuous journey from bowl to mouth without a total
wreck. After an indefinite number of repetitions,
however, the habit is formed and the route is trav-
ersed with ease, simplicity and perfect safety without
the slightest attention.
Anything that has been done once is more easily
done a second time. After it has been done a dozen
times it is still easier. After it has been done a hun-
dred times it is called " natural," and is done without
conscious thought or attention, slipped into without
thinking — it has become a habit.
3
Child Training
A habit is a rut made by going over the same course
repeatedly, a rut into which the same act will fall
ever afterwards. It is a channel dug out in the brain
by the flow of the mental stream, a conduit bored by
the current of thought.
A marble on a bagatelle board, or a ball on a bil-
liard table may take an infinite number of courses,
for there are no grooves to determine the route, but
the brain is in effect crossed and criss-crossed by
grooves which hold a thought to a certain course, as
in the case of the marble in some puzzles, even though
we make a determined effort to shake it into another
channel.
A nail once driven home, if withdrawn, can hardly
be re-driven in a different direction if inserted in or
even near its own hole. It will almost invariably slip
back into its own first hole, no matter what effort we
make to alter its course and so it is with thought and
act.
What you do when you forget yourself is a habit,
not what you do when you think. The story of the
old soldier who dropped his bundles in the street and
brought his hands promptly to his side when sharply
called to " Attention ! " illustrates this truth.
In time of stress or trial " company manners " as-
sumed for a special occasion, invariably vanish — for-
gotten in the bewildering strangeness or paralyzed by
excitement. If you tell a child how to act just be-
4
Habit Drills
fore he goes to a " party " you may be pretty sure
he will get his instructions all wrong, or not heed
them at all. Practise him once or twice and he will
make a muddle of them, but habituate him to them
and he will act as he has been trained even when he
forgets himself.
We come into this world without habits, we acquire
them as we acquire weight and stature, there is no
option. The habits may be good or they may be bad
but there must be habits and there will be habits —
there is no escape. Our daily life is almost entirely
controlled by habits — our method of dressing, eating,
speaking, working, playing, is habit, and it is fortunate
that it is so, for if conscious attention, consideration,
decision and control had to be given each individual
act throughout the day, we should never get dressed
before bed time. Therefore, until the routine of daily
life is reduced to proper habits it is a waste of time at-
tempting anything else — like attempting to play con-
certos before one is able to play scales.
Now it is a commonplace in education to say that
the forming of character is the chief aim, that it is not
so much what is learned, as the character produced,
but character is nothing more than the sum total of
habits — good or bad. In speaking of good and bad
habits, we are apt to think of the morally good or
bad, of the grosser habits, but this is a very small
part of the matter. Good and bad habits mean those
5
Child Training
that are good or bad for one physically and mentally,
as well as morally and either in the present or future.
Good habits are among the best things in the world,
bad habits among the worst and yet though the im-
portance of good habits is universally recognized,
though the language is full of sentiments, quotations
and proverbs attesting their value, habit forming is
still left almost entirely to chance or environment.
It is casual or incidental, not, as it should be. the seri-
ously absorbing business of elementary education.
Chance may make the habits good but chance may
just as well make them bad. If left to chance alone,
according to the laws of chance the good and the bad
are in the long run about equally divided. Education's
business, therefore, is to make as large a part of the
habits as it can good, — good in the sense of useful
to the individual and society — the habit of dress-
ing quickly and carefully instead of slowly and in a
slovenly way; of eating properly the right things in-
stead of wrongly the wrong things; of speaking cor-
rectly and pleasingly, instead of incorrectly; of work-
ing skilfully, efficiently and industriously instead of
slip-shodly and lazily; of playing hard, well and
fairly instead of lackadaisically, poorly and in bad
spirit; of thinking logically and justly instead of
whimsically and prejudicially — of acting in a thou-
sand right ways instead of the many thousand wrong.
Habit Drills
FORMING OF HABITS
Good habits are sometimes supposed to be merely
the resuh of proper atmosphere, proper models, and
other subtle forces; bad habits of bad atmosphere and
improper models, but this is only partly true.
Habits are formed by repetition and in no other
zcay than by repetition. Whatever you do in a cer-
tain way repeatedly you will continue to do in this
way. If you want to form the habit of playing the
scales on the piano in a certain way, you do so by
multitudinous repetitions till you " get the habit "of
using certain fingers in a certain sequence without
conscious thought or hesitation, once the start is
made. If you want to train a child to pick up scraps
of paper from the floor whenever he sees them, put
paper on the floor and have him pick it up, put it
down again and repeat the exercise exactly as if you
were training a dog to fetch the newspaper, till the
habit is so formed that the sight of waste paper on
the floor starts the reflex action — pick up.
The repetition may be involuntary as when one
acquires the habit of eating with one's knife, drinking
from one's saucer, etc., by unconscious, repeated imita-
tion of those about one, or it may be voluntary, as
when one acquires the habit of swimming, running an
automobile, or sailing a boat, by voluntarily practising
the movements repeatedly.
7
Child Training
The involuntary habits we can form by making the
right setting for the child. His playmates, nurses,
and not least, his parents, will be his involuntary copies,
models and habit formers.
The voluntary habits we can form only by practis-
ing the child, they cannot be formed by telling him.
If we want the child to get the habit of closing the door
quietly it is not enough to tell him to close the door
quietly and after he has banged it, tell him again he
should have closed it quietly and not bang it the next
time. He has the muscle memory of banging the door
which the verbal memory will not counteract. He may
remember to close the door quietly the next time but
the chances are he will not, because it is a question
not of memory but of habit. Neither is it sufficient to
have him once close the door quietly — it merely bal-
ances the one time closed noisily and this leaves the
two quits. The proper course is to make him close
the door a number of times quietly, both to emphasize
the muscular memory and to start the formation of the
habit.
While forming a habit a most important rule to ob-
serve is to allow no lapses, no exceptions, until the
habit is firmly established, for habits that are inculcated
by drill are secured only as the result of eternal vigi-
lance and never failing exaction. A single omission
will set back the habit formation, make further omis-
sions easier and defer indefinitely the time when the
a
Habit Drills
habit is to become second nature. If the parent or
teacher neglects to notice the omission of the act to
be formed into a habit, the habit is half undone, — a
second and third failure to exact it and the habit is
gone completely. As James aptly puts it, " Each lapse
is like the letting fall of a ball of string which one is
carefully winding up, a single slip undoes more than
a great many turns will wind again." The parent or
teacher must not forget nor overlook a single omission
until the habit is ineradicable. The child must be
brought to feel that the correction is inevitable and
cannot be avoided if the required act is omitted. In
training a dog to beg for food, if he sometimes gets
it without begging, all the previous training is undone.
In training a child to say " please," if sometimes he
gets what he asks for without first saying " please," the
training in this form of courtesy is undone.
The child will naturally take the easiest way, the
shortest cut, and if the habit we wish to inculcate re-
quires his going the long way round we must erect a
barrier across the short cut until the habit of going
round is formed, so that in case he starts on the pro-
hibited route, he will invariably be forced to retrace his
steps and take the right. After awhile he will give
up trying the short cut, but only if he finds the gate al-
ways closed. If occasionally it is left open, he will
take his chance in the hope of getting through.
" Nagging " results from starting the corrective
9
Child Training
process after a contrary habit is already formed, or is
due to making the corrections intermittently, or to
omitting the necessary preliminary practice and repeti-
tions.
The forming of good habits in children is therefore
one of the most difficult tasks in the world for the
teacher or parent, but worth all and more effort than
is expended, for the comfort, satisfaction and livable-
ness that the child of such training brings to the house-
hold, school, playmates and all others associated or
brought into contact with him, as well as for his own
popularity, friendliness, success and happiness, both
at the present and in the future.
In forming a habit, therefore, force the child to take
the right path and go over the same ground repeatedly
till the habit becomes familiar, easy and natural, and
never for an instant leave the gate to the wrong path
open — till the habit is fixed.
BREAKING OF HABITS
But not only has the parent or teacher the task of
forming good habits, bad habits which have already
been acquired must be broken up.
If the nature of habits and their formation is under-
stood from what precedes, the method of undoing
habits is obvious : Never once allow the child to do
the habitual act after the " breaking " has begun for ex-
10
Habit Drills
ceptions as in the case of habit forming nullify the
effect.
If the child has already acquired the habit of eating
between meals, he should not be cut down to few vio-
lations — none at all should be allowed. In other
words bad habits should be pulled out like a tooth or
a splinter with a single wrench not by degrees.
But even though the habits are otherwise good,
as Radestock and others have pointed out, there
is some danger in extreme habituation — in getting
into a rut from which one cannot get out. If a per-
son requires the identical stimulus for the identical re-
action, or if he is unable to do differently should the
occasion demand it, he is inconvenienced if not ren-
dered helpless when the habitual train of action is
broken.
There is also a further drawback in extreme habit-
uation— the finish and nicety of execution tend to
become slurred. Joseph Jefferson used to say that
acting Rip Van Winkle had, by multitudinous repeti-
tions, become such a habit that he could go through
the whole play without once thinking of what he was
saying or doing. He had constantly, therefore, to
force himself to keep his mind on every line, every
gesture, every action, to prevent them becoming me-
chanical, expressionless and monotonous, from the
very fact of extreme habituation.
In children, however, these dangers are practically
II
Child Training
negligible, and in the case of the habits inculcated in
this course they can hardly be too deeply or too per-
manently ingrained — and no fear may be felt that
habituation will become so extreme as to work harm.
Nevertheless practice should be given in acting con-
trary to custom and habitude, so that the child may not
be upset by changed conditions and therefore sugges-
tions are given for this under " Further Habit Drills."
PURPOSE AND METHOD OF HABIT DRILLS
The general purpose of the following period, there-
fore, is to give specific drills that will start the forma-
tion of habits of obedience, observation, attention,
concentration, and so on.
To form the habit of obedience we practise the
child in obeying, in carrying out orders, in executing
commands, in doing what he is told. To form the
habit of observation, we drill him in observing with
the different senses — hearing, seeing, feeling. To
form the habit of attention and concentration we prac-
tise him in attending and concentrating till he is able
to attend and concentrate for longer and longer
periods. A lesson plans work for, approximately, one
period, but it should be repeated and repeated until the
lesson to be learned is learned or the habit to be fixed
is fixed, and should be recurred to from time to time,
to make sure that it is so. From what has been said
of the nature of habit it will readily be seen, however,
12
Habit Drills
that it is not sufficient to practise, insist and adhere
strictly to certain drills at stated periods set down in
the program — this is only the start in the right direc-
tion — but at any time or hour or period or season the
same habit must be insisted upon whenever and how-
ever the occasion for it arises.
13
OBEDIENCE DRILLS
Obedience — the ability and willingness to carry out
directions exactly and promptly — is the first requisite
for the proper instruction of a child and is, therefore,
the first habit to be inculcated.
The value of obedience as a school art, aside from
its ethical importance, is almost inestimable. Much
of the delay, preparation, explanation and instruction
of raw recruits in the first year of school and, indeed,
throughout the grades, might be avoided and time
saved if children were systematically trained in carry-
ing out orders.
Obedience includes not only moral obedience — the
willingness to obey the laws of God and man and the
commands and directions of those in authority — but
also the ability to do so. The child may be perfectly
obedient in spirit, but lacking in training and unable to
execute the commands. The great majority of child-
ish disobedience is not wilful, not intentional, but
simply lack of association of the order with the idea
of its execution, or inertia in setting up the association.
Watch green children ordered by a strange person,
for instance the teacher, the first few days of school :
"Stand," "Sit," "Look at me." The child looks
14
Habit Drills — Obedience
around vaguely, and even if the perfectly simple com-
mand be given in stentorian tones, he may seem be-
wildered and make no move to obey. The child
knows what is meant to " Stand," " Sit," and " Look
at me " and does not oppose any resistance nor intend
voluntary disobedience, but he does not associate the
command to " Stand," " Sit," " Look this way," with
his own standing, sitting, looking this way. The sen-
tence is for him grammatically declarative and not im-
perative— a simple statement, not an order. The
child may even have to be stood up, and then sat down,
etc., simultaneously with the order till he associates
the command with its execution, in exactly the same
way that we teach a dog to " lie down " by putting him
in that position when we give the order. When oth-
ers are present who do associate the command with the
order, he learns from imitation of them what is ex-
pected, and if his name precedes the command as,
" John, stand," or " You stand," he may learn more
quickly.
On the other hand he may be perfectly able to exe-
cute the order, but laziness, selfishness, perversity or
indisposition make him unwilling to do so.
Both willingness and ability may be made a habit as
the result of specific training. Indeed, if the habit is
started early enough and firmly established, willingness
does not enter into the problem. If the child has al-
ways obeyed and has never been allowed any other
15
Child Training
course, the habit of obeying will be so strong, so com-
pelling, that unwillingness to obey on any special oc-
casion will have no effect, the direction will be obeyed
without question or parley, as a matter of course, no
matter what the personal feelings may be — so much
stronger is the force of habit than any other tempo-
rary or occasional force.
The business of the first importance is, therefore, to
fix the habit by constantly and insistently demanding
the prompt execution of every order without any ex-
ceptions whatsoever, exceptions being fatal to the for-
mation of habits. Such excuses or postponements of
obedience as : " Can't B do it, I 'm doing so and so ? "
or, " In just a minute, when I finish this," even though
the temporizing is reasonable, are destructive to habit
forming and should, therefore, for this reason alone,
not be tolerated.
I. Simple Orders
Imitation, Terms of Direction
Say to the children, " I want to see if you can do
what I tell you, instantly, when I tell you and just the
way I tell you." Then give the order:
" Stand up."
Some may obey promptly, some may obey more
slowly, some may hesitate, look around to see what the
others are going to do and finally but tardily, rise.
Some may pay no attention to the order at all, but look
i6
Habit Drills — Obedience
blankly around or attentively at something else ex-
actly as if they had been excepted in the command.
If there is much irregularity in obeying correctly
and at once, it may be necessary to say, " All children
stand up," or " All of you stand up," and this may have
to be supplemented by the explanation, " When I say,
' Stand up,' I mean you, John and Mary, as well as the
others." Then give the order:
" Sit down."
Repeat these orders, " Stand up," " Sit down," half
a dozen or more times until all the children understand
what is wanted and obey promptly, quietly and without
hesitating or lagging. This drill is not, of course, for
the purpose of teaching the child the meaning of
" stand up " and " sit down," but to form in him the
habit of executing promptly orders that are under-
stood. A child knows what it means to " stop making
a noise " or to " come " when called, but unless he has
been drilled in obedience he does not always obey, or
obey instantly, or obey graciously, and this is the
obedience these exercises are intended to inculcate and
will inculcate if strictly drilled in. From such simple
and small beginnings may be built up and formed most
complex and useful habits. Then give the selectiv'^
orders :
" Boys, stand up."
" Girls, stand up."
" Girls, sit down," etc.
17
Child Training
Have them first imitate you, while you execute the
above order, as directed. This is training by imita-
tion. Then have them carry out the order from the
command alone. Give the order but do not execute it
yourself, or better still, tell them to close their eyes
and keep them closed while you give the order and they
obey. This is to prevent imitation of others in the
class. They are not trained until they can obey
promptly without seeing either the teacher or another
child whom they can imitate. Then give the order:
" Raise your right hands," raising your own at the
same time, to show which is right. If facing them,
raise your own left hand as you say to them, " Raise
your right," as in imitating you they will raise the
hand that is on the same side with your own. Ask
them in the same way to raise the left, imitating your
own motion. Note those that hesitate, make a false
start or raise the wrong hand and practise these alone
on raising right and left as directed. Repeat this drill,
having them close their eyes while doing so. Then
give the children other orders of direction, such as :
" Look up, down."
" Face right side, left side."
" Place your hands on top of your head, under your
chair, behind your back."
" Stand up, stand on right foot, on left foot."
" Turn round to the right, to the left, sit down."
" Kneel on right knee, on left knee, on both knees."
i8
Habit Drills — Obedience
" Clap your hands once, twice, three times."
First, practise the children as a class, having them
imitate you. Second, give the command and have
them execute it with closed eyes. Afterwards, prac-
tise them individually, devoting the drill to those who
are unfamiliar with the terms used or slow to carry
them out.
2. Non-Repeated, Quiet Orders
Obedience, Attention
Obedience that cannot be secured without many
repetitions, loud tones, even a threatening manner is of
little value. Give the orders in Drill i, in a very quiet
tone and rather a casual manner. Put those not obey-
ing to one side, till they promise to attend.
Such practice in having soft quiet orders promptly
obeyed, orders that can just be heard or that are given
casually while talking or attending to something else
is most important. The child becomes accustomed to
pay keen attention to sound in the same way that a
nurse is trained to awake at the slightest movement of
her patient. Orders given when a child is at play
(which at any other time would not be unagreeable) or
when they come as an interruption to what the child
is doing, are rarely obeyed, unless the child has been
practised and usually punished. But it is perfectly
possible and a delightful, though a rare, experience for
a child romping, or busily engaged with toys or ab-
19
Child Training
sorbed in some occupation, to respond instantly with-
out a moment's hesitation to a parental call.
Repeat the foregoing quiet order drills until orders
are executed with promptness and decision.
3. Simple Orders
Obedience, Precision
Prepare a list of simple but varied commands, such
as:
" John, shut the door."
" Mary, bring me that book."
" Give this book to John."
" Get me a glass of water."
" Close the window."
" Put your chair by me," and so on.
Give the first direction to a child and await its pre-
cise fulfilment, asking the class if the child has fol-
lowed the direction in every particular, or if he has
failed, and in what respect he has failed. The child
executing the order should ask no questions and if
there is a choice of possibilities within the spirit of
the order, either should be judged correct.
With the first orders there should be no chance for
misunderstanding or for an alternative but later there
should be, and the success of the child adjudged ac-
cording to the reasonableness of his interpretation.
Thus, when the order is, " Close the window," if there
is more than one window open, and the exact one is
20
Habit Drills — Obedience
not specified, he should determine which is the one
probably intended — the one possibly through which
the wind or rain is coming.
Each time an order is executed the children should
be called upon to suggest an improvement — for ex-
ample : " John banged the door ; " " He did n't shut
it quietly;" "He made too much noise in going to
the door;" "He asked which door;" or "He hesi-
tated, took too long," and so on.
When each has had his turn, then the teacher should
give each another turn at a different order, but not too
often on this occasion to fatigue or bore the children.
For fear of this, it is best not to take up a single order
at a time and have each child, in turn, execute it, for
even though each would undoubtedly improve on the
preceding, the exercise would become very monotonous
even before the order had been around the class once.
4. Simple Deferred Orders
Obedience, Attention, Memory
Prepare a list of orders as in the preceding drill and
tell the children you will give each one an order, but
it is not to be executed till you give the word. Then
read the list of orders, putting a name of a child before
each order, and when you have finished say,
" Now, do what I have told you."
21
Child Training
5. Negative Orders or Prohibitions
Obedience, Memory, Attention, Self-control
The burden of much of the instructions to teachers
and parents is, " Don't say don't." Of course it is
usually better to say " Do," for " Don't " is apt " to
put ideas into their heads; " ideas that were not there
before ; e.g., the classic example of the mother who left
her children with the parting injunction, " Don't put
beans up your noses." It is a psychological law that
all ideas are potential acts. We unconsciously tend
to carry out any idea in our mind whether it has " Do "
or " Don't " attached and the don't oftentimes only
serves to emphasize its prominence as an idea and
hence renders it more compelling, more likely to be
acted upon, than if nothing were said about it at all.
But inhibition — which is the suppression of such
ideas — is an important habit to be cultivated and
though it is perfectly true that the unfamiliar, the un-
likely to happen is, as a rule best left unmentioned;
nevertheless for purposes of discipline, practice in obey-
ing negative commands is highly important, as most
laws and rules from the Decalogue down, are prohibi-
tions — " Thou shalt not."
Face the children away from you and tell them 3'OU
are going to practise them in obeying the order,
" Don't look." Tell them that when you have given
the order, they are not to look round, under any cir-
22
Habit Drills — Obedience
cumstances, no matter even if a contradictory order is
given, until you call " Time." Then give the order
and behind their backs try different devices to entice
them into looking. Tell a story and pretend to illus-
trate it, saying for instance, " Jack and Jill went up a
hill, like this " (stamp about or make audible gestures)
" to fetch a pail of water, like this " (make chalk
marks on the blackboard, as if drawing). "Jack
came down, like this " (turn over a chair) " and broke
his crown, like this" (drop a book or something
heavy), and so on. Suddenly speak into the ear of
one saying, " look here," tap another on the shoulder
excitedly and so on.
6. Double Orders
Obedience, Attention, Memory
Make a list as in drill 3, but with two orders for
each child, thus : " John, hand me that book, and put
this on the table." Use in the same way as in drill 3.
7. Double Deferred Orders
Obedience, Attention, Memory
Use the list of double orders made in lesson 6, but
have them carried out as in lesson 4 — that is, read
all the orders before having any of them executed.
23
Child Training
8. Prohibitions
Obedience, Self-control
Tell the children you are going to practise them still
lurther in obeying " Don'ts." Then, give the order:
" Don't make any sound until I call ' Time.' "
Allow them to move their heads, arms, feet ; even
to move about, though this privilege should be for-
feited by any one failing in the slightest degree to
observe the command. Watch and listen for the
faintest sound and have them do the same, but only
the teacher must call attention to any voluntary or in-
voluntary breaking of silence. At the end of five min-
utes call " Time." Discuss with the children what
they could do to observe the command better or more
easily and repeat the exercise.
Then tell them to get into a comfortable position,
one that they can maintain indefinitely, as they are to
remain not only silent but motionless. Ask them to
pretend that they are to have their pictures taken, that
the slightest motion, shifting of position or twitching
— breathing and blinking of the eyes excepted — will
spoil the picture, and say,
" Now don't move, till I call ' Time.' " (The illus-
trations in this book were made of children drilled in
this way.)
Call " Time " at the end of two minutes, as this is
a very severe ordeal. Further practice, however,
24
Habit Drills — Obedience
should make them able to hold this position for five
minutes, or longer.
9. Prohibitions
Obedience, Self-control
Tell the children you are going to command " Don't
talk," and then are going to try to surprise them into
talking or asking a question, but they must say nothing
under any circumstances. Tell them they are sup-
posed to be mutes, without the power of speech — as
dumb as the animals.
Then give the command, " Don't talk," but continue
to talk yourself, telling either a story or something
about which children would ordinarily ask questions
and if this does not succeed, abruptly ask one of the
children a question, trying to take him off his guard or
to startle him into a reply.
10. Secret Keeping
Obedience, Attention, Inhibition
Practise the children in keeping a secret, first ex-
plaining how careful they must be not to " give them-
selves away," that to keep a secret they must never tell
that they have one, for in case they do, there are nu-
merous ways in which it may be extracted without
their directly telling it. If, however, it is known that
they are in possession of a secret, their only safe reply
to every question is, the usual attorney's instruction
25
Child Training
to his client, " I have nothing to say." To answer
" Yes " and " No " is disastrous; for any clever ques-
tioner by asking leading questions could, by the process
of elimination, eventually obtain the secret.
Ask one child to tell another a secret, then put the
latter on the grill, cross-questioning, cajoling, daring
him, in the ways usually employed to extract a secret,
thus :
" Will you give me three guesses?"
"Is it this, is it that?"
" I know what it is, it is ."
" I don't believe you have a secret."
" I dare you to tell."
" You are afraid to tell."
"If you tell me, I '11 tell you something."
To which the invariable reply, if any, should be,
" I have nothing to say."
This may be followed by the Deaf-and-Dumb Game.
In this the children pretend that they can neither hear
nor talk and try to act accordingly, though the teacher
tries her best to trip them up and to surprise them into
betraying they are not so.
For instance, she might say:
" Look at me." The children shall of course not
hear and therefore not look.
"■All of you," This is an extra jar to surprise the
unwary.
" Do you want me to tell you a story ? "
26
Habit Drills — Obedience
II. Judgment Orders
Obedience, Observation, Judgment
Prepare a list of orders in the fulfilling of each of
which something is left to the judgment of the child,
by the omission of either the location, the method or
something of the sort. Thus :
"John, please close the window," (when there are
several open). He must not ask which one, but judge
from conditions or the reason prompting the order,
which is the one probably meant.
" Mary, please bring me a pencil." She must not
ask, " Where shall I find one? " or " Where can I get
it?" but judge from previous experience or likelihood
where to go for it.
" Harry, please get me my coat." He must not
ask where it is, but go and look for it in the most
probable place and keep up his search till he is suc-
cessful.
12. Carrying Messages
Obedience, Memory
Prepare a list of fetching orders involving finding
a person and giving a message, which the child may
not necessarily understand — such orders as —
" Go to and get a book called ."
" Go to the janitor and get a hammer, screw driver,
ten nails and five screws."
27
Child Training
" Go to and get three envelopes and two sheets
of letter paper."
" Go to and get a piece of string about a yard
long and half a dozen pins."
The child should always be made to repeat the
message to be sure he has it right before starting on
his mission.
13. Time Orders
Obedience, Memory
Prepare and give out a list of orders to be executed
some time after the order is given, say at 12 o'clock.
The children should be shown the position of the hands
of the clock at the required hour and instructed to
execute the order precisely at that time without further
direction. Either fetching or doing orders similar to
those previously given are appropriate.
The child must, therefore, remember both the order
and the time when it is to be put into effect and act
independently when the proper time arrives.
14. Prohibitions
Obedience, Self-control
Tell the children you are going to leave the room,
and while you are gone they must stay in their seats
but may do as they choose, as long as they make no
noise or sound audible to another in the room. Leave
for five minutes, the first time merely going out of
28
Habit Drills — Obedience
5ight and not out of hearing. On your return ask
how many failed to observe the rule. Treat it as a
game and failure merely as losing, not as offending.
Tattling should not be allowed.
15. "Simon Says Thumbs Up"
Obedience, Attention, Concentration
The game of " Simon says thumbs up," involves
both a command and a prohibition. Explain that when
the teacher or one of their own number, appointed
to act as leader, says simply, " Thumbs up " or
" Thumbs down," they must make no motion, but
when the leader says, " Simon says. Thumbs up," they
must put them so if they are already turned down, and
put them down when commanded by Simon if already
up. If any one but the leader should give the com-
mand or if thumbs are already in the position ordered,
they should make no motion. This may be made still
more exacting by specifying right or left thumb.
16. Future Orders
Obedience, Memory, Foresight
Prepare and give out a list of orders to be executed
for the next day, such as,
"John, bring me to-morrow morning one of your
picture books."
" Mary, bring me a doll."
" Harry, bring me a colored leaf," and so on.
29
Child Training
17. Time Orders
Obedience, Memory
Prepare and give out a list of orders to be executed
at different times in the day without further direction,
thus :
" At ten o'clock, John, get me a glass of water."
" At ten-thirty o'clock, Mary, bring me my gloves."
" At eleven o'clock, Harry, open the windows and
Louise, open the door."
" At eleven-thirty, Fred, remind me that I am to
send a message."
18. Duties
Obedience, Memory, Duty
Prepare and give out a list of orders to be executed
daily at regular times by the same pupils without fur-
ther direction — duties. As far as possible these
should be duties that are actually helpful in the con-
duct of the class, not fictitious, so that each may feel
he has not only a part but a function in the community.
Thus :
" John, arrange the chairs every day before 9
o'clock."
" Mary, water the flowers every day just before 9
o'clock."
" Louise, wind and set the clock at noon."
" Fred, dust," etc.
30
Habit Drills — Obedience
Duties should be assigned that are unpleasant as
well as pleasant and the child instructed that a duty is
to be accepted pleasantly and attended to without shirk-
ing, whining or querulousness and be trained to ob-
serve this rule till the habit of graciously accepting
what has to be, is fixed. Each week the duties should
be shifted so that each child may have a turn, practice
in different occupations and a taste of both the pleas-
ant and unpleasant tasks.
31
ORDER AND NEATNESS DRILLS
The desirability of order and neatness on both es-
thetic and practical grounds should be obvious. There
is furthermore, a close connection between exterior
order and mental order. The person who is slovenly
and untidy in his personal surroundings over which he
has control is slovenly and untidy in his thoughts and
mental habits. Order and system are essentials of
efficiency in both thought and work.
19. Cleaning up Room
Scatter waste paper, blocks, toys, on the floor and
have the children pick them up, put paper in scrap
basket and blocks, etc., where they belong.
20. Putting Things in Place
Disarrange the room by putting things out of their
proper place — a coat on a chair, a hat on the table,
a hammer on the desk, a towel on the book rack and
have the children put each article away in its proper
place. ■
21. Setting Room in Order
Disarrange the furniture and furnishings of a room,
turning a chair to the wall, putting a picture on the
32
Habit Drills — Order and Neatness
slant, twisting the tables, raising one shade, etc., and
have each child in turn re-arrange the furniture prop-
erly.
22. Sorting Papers
Place on a table a miscellaneous lot of papers, post
cards, envelopes, etc., each of the same size but mixed
higgledy-piggledy, and have the children arrange each
kind in order with the faces all up and in the same
direction, and jog each pile together till the edges are
even on all sides.
23. Sorting Books
Mix a pile of different size books and have each child
arrange the pile with the biggest book at the bottom
and the others of diminishing size with the backs of all
even and together.
24. Sorting Miscellaneous Articles
Mix books, magazines, newspapers, letter paper, en-
velopes, etc., and have each child, in turn, separate and
arrange by himself the different articles.
25. Setting Desk in Order
Have the children observe the arrangement of a desk
top or drawers, the mantel, etc. Then take everything
off and away from the mantel and the desk and have
them place the things back in their proper position.
33
Child Training
26. Setting Table
Show the children how to set a table and have them
set one.
27. Setting Cupboard in Order
Show the children the orderly shelves of a cupboard
or pantry closet, then disarrange and have them set
everything in order — the cups together, the same kind
of dishes together, knives together, forks together, and
so on.
28. Setting Personal Belongings in Order
Have the children set their own things to rights after
each use and keep them so. When a child undresses
for bed he should fold his clothes and arrange them in
an orderly manner on a chair or hooks.
34
OBSERVATION DRILLS
It is usual to expect the child to observe without any
special training, on the supposition that because he has
all his senses he will see and hear whatever is to be seen
or heard, and yet we should know that those who
have eyes to see frequently do not see, and those who
have ears to hear, frequently do not hear. Indeed it
might be more exact to say that people as a rule see
and hear only dully, without observing details, or with-
out having them make any impression on the mind.
The musician detects fine differences in shading of
tone that pass entirely over the ordinary listener; the
artist notices the contour of the face, the color, setting
and distance apart of the eyes and the details of other
features that no one without his training sees.
We say repeatedly that the child should get his edu-
cation not from books, but from the world about him,
by observation at first hand, and yet we do not teach
him to observe, expecting that it is all sufficient to
present things to him and let him do the rest. The
result is inefficient study, wasted time, wasted ma-
terials, wasted opportunities.
The way to open the child's mind to observe the
35
Child Training
world without, is to practise him in observing that
world through the different senses. The habit of
observing and discriminating once formed by exercise
and drill is the first step in learning that vague art —
the advantage and importance of which every one rec-
ognizes and acknowledges but for which few have been
able to give a receipt — how to study. The next fac-
tors in " how to study " are attention, concentration,
association and memory, and these habits will, there-
fore, be practised in their order.
It is not reasonable to postpone teaching the child
how to study till after he has been or is supposed to
have been studying for years.
Special exercises for training in observation through
taste and smell are chiefly valuable on account of the
mental attitude of close observation and discrimina-
tion engendered, rather than on account of any in-
trinsic value, slight at most, which the ability to differ-
entiate tastes and smells may have. This statement is
not true, however, of the other senses, touch, sight and
hearing, where the training is of the greatest possible
importance as an acquisition in itself.
29. Tasting
Observation, Discrimination
Prepare glasses of water, as follows: Pure, salt,
sweet, sour (use lime or lemon juice), bitter (use ex-
tract of bitter almonds).
3^
Habit Drills — Observation
Give each child a straw and have each in turn close
his eyes and taste the plain water. Or, fill a medicine
dropper and directing,
" Open your mouth and close your eyes," put a few
drops on the tongue of each. Ask the children to,
" Taste the taste," make up their minds what it is,
and when all have had a taste and not till then, tell
what it is.
Tell them they are not to answer till asked per-
sonally. Ask several others in turn and if each says
" Just plain water," or " Water," ask those thinking
the same to raise their hands. (Children at this age
are prone to raise their hands indiscriminately so that
due allowance must be made for this form of affirma-
tion, and reliance is never to be put upon it.) If the
class is not too large, each pupil may be called to the
teacher's side to whisper his opinion in her ear. Con-
firm the opinion by saying,
" Yes, it is water," then repeat the same process
using the salt water. If some say " Salt water," and
some " Sour water," or " Plain water," in response to
the second test, ask those that think one thing and
those another to arrange themselves in groups, stand-
ing, sitting, or raising their hands, accordingly, before
announcing which is correct. Proceed in the same way
with glasses of water diluted with some fruit or other
syrup, as chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, raspberry,
pineapple, orange, peach, cherry, peppermint, winter-
»j 6 o ^ -i
Child Training
green. Care should be taken to give only a taste of
each flavor and not enough to upset the stomach.
30. Smelling
Observation, Discrimination
Use fresh flowers or small glass vials filled with
some or all of the following, and entirely cover
each vial with paper so that the contents cannot be
seen :
Extract of carnation, violet, geranium, rose; orris
root, celery seed, coffee, sage; oil of cedar, lemon,
cloves, nutmeg, peppermint, wintergreen, turpentine,
lavender.
With very young children it will be necessary to state
the name of the flower, or spice, or herb before passing
the vials for smelling and this may have to be repeated
a number of times before a real test in discrimination
is possible.
Have the vials passed about and judged as in the
previous exercise. Use not more than five the first
day. The sense of smell becomes easily fatigued so
that one is hardly able to distinguish differences if
more than five are smelled in rapid succession. If,
also, a child has a cold, he will be unable to do himself
justice.
Have the glasses used in the previous taste exercise
passed about to each child in turn and allow him three
" sniffs " with the eyes closed. For this purpose it may
38
Habit Drills — Observation
be necessary to strengthen the solution somewhat. For-
bid any comment whatever till each child is asked to
name what it is, on completion of the round, as in the
case of the taste exercise.
Explain in regard to the use of perfumes, that those
of fresh flowers are occasionally permissible to girls
and women, being in keeping with the idea of feminine
character, but that they are very bad form for a boy
or man.
31. Feeling Fabrics
Observation, Discriminaiion, Information
Prepare squares, the size of a pocket handkerchief,
of different materials, as follows :
Velvet, wool, silk, cotton, linen, satin, sateen, bur-
lap, corduroy, buckram, felt, canvas, cheesecloth,
chamois, leather, pantesote.
In this lesson take the first half dozen pieces and
pass each in turn to the children, saying,
" This is velvet," " This is wool," " This is silk,"
and so on, and have them feel and examine each piece
with open eyes and then with eyes closed.
Discuss the appropriate uses of the different ma-
terials — which are suitable for summer clothes, which
for winter; which for shirts, handkerchiefs, collars,
trimmings ; which for curtains, upholstery, etc.
Blindfold each child in turn and test, to see which
can identify the greatest number without mistakes.
39
Child Training
32. " Blind Man's Buff "
Observation, Discrimination, Cleanliness
Have the children prepare for this exercise by wash-
ing their hands and nails till they are surgically clean.
Explain the difference between ordinary cleanliness
and surgical cleanliness and insist on the latter. Send
them back to the wash room repeatedly till the skin is
pink from scrubbing and without the remotest trace
or suggestion of a shadow or discoloration that might
be dirt. When their hands are perfectly clean, have
them observe and examine the feeling of the clothes
of their mates. Then blindfold each in turn and have
him endeavor to identify his mates by feeling their
clothes as in " blind man's buff."
33. Feeling Materials
Observation, Discrimination
Give lessons similar to those preceding, using other
materials such as wood, metal, hard rubber, soft rub-
ber, glass, stone, china, plaster of Paris, brick, card-
board, blotting paper, cork, straw, braid, wire screen-
ing, crayon, paraffine, soap, clay, tin.
At first the children may finger the article all over,
but later they should identify it by touching the sur-
face alone, determining what it is by its roughness,
smoothness, coldness, warmth, elasticity, plasticity,
viscosity, etc., not by its form — a much more difficult
40
Habit Drills — Observation
undertaking and requiring a keenness of perception in
which only a moderate degree of accuracy can be ex-
pected.
34. Weighing
Observation, Discrimination, Baric Sense
Show children a pair of balance scales, those with
balanced pans on each side of a fulcrum, and how
things of equal weight balance each other while in the
case of unequal weights the heavier falls and the lighter
rises. Then take two boxes of equal size but unequal
weight, such as two match boxes, and fill one with
meal and the other with sand. Place one box in the
right hand of a child and the other box in his left and
ask him to tell which is heavier or which is lighter.
Verify or correct his judgment by balancing the boxes
on the scales, after he has opened his eyes. Do the
same with two books and two packages.
Then take two packs of cards and subtract from one
pack and add to the other to make small differences in
weight, and test the pupil's baric sense, as for the
books.
35. Finding in the Dark
Observation, Muscular Sense
Blindfold a seated child and giving him five ten-
pins, ask him to set them up the same distance apart
in a line before him on the table. Then ask him to
reach out and hand you the ten-pin on the right end, or
41
Child Training
the left end, then the middle, etc. He should take hold
of the ten-pin asked for the very first time and not
feel around for the right one, or touch any other. If
he does so it is a failure.
36. Finding in the Dark
Observation, Muscular Sense
Put several articles, such as a cup, a bottle, a hat, a
book in different parts of the room, on the table,
mantel, peg, desk, etc., then stand a ten-pin or Indian
club on the floor in the vicinity of each article. Then,
blindfold each child in turn and ask him to get you
the cup or hat, or other article, without knocking
down a ten-pin. At first the children should be allowed
to go over the course before being blindfolded.
37. Feeling Paper
Observation, Discrimination
Get together sheets of paper of different weights, —
tissue and 5, 20, 25 lbs., etc. (meaning weight of
ream) — and have the children tell which is thicker and
heavier by feeling it between their fingers.
38. Object Seeing
Observation
This is called the " I see game." Each child is given
a turn to name an object he sees for the others to dis-
cover, thus:
42
Habit Drills — Observation
First Child, " I see a clock."
Second Child, " It 's on the wall."
First Child, " Yes."
Second Child, " I see a basket."
Third Child, " It 's by the desk."
Second Child, " No."
Third Child, " There it is on the table."
Second Child, " Yes."
Third Child, " I see a ring," and so on.
39. Finding and Replacing
Observation
This is a most valuable exercise in finding things.
We all know how many have eyes and see not, how
often even older people fail to see something for which
they are looking, even when it is right before them.
" Plant " various articles in different parts of the
room or building — a pair of scissors in the top drawer
of your desk, a ball on the shelf of the closet, a paint
box in the basket on the table, a red book on the bot-
tom row of the bookcase, etc., and prepare a list ac-
cordingly. Make sure that each article is where it is
supposed to be and that the children know what they
are looking for, are ignorant of its whereabouts and
understand the descriptive term, such as top, bottom,
red, etc. Then give the order to each child to bring
you the various articles, thus :
"John, get me the scissors in the top drawer
43
Child Training
of the desk." " Mary, get me the ball from the shelf
of the closet," and so on. In this lesson the specific
location should be given in each instance, so that there
may be no excuse for the child not finding the article.
After all the articles have been brought you, have
them all re-placed, by ordering each child in turn thus :
" Put the ball on the shelf of the closet," etc.
Of course, the replacing order should be to a differ-
ent child than the one who did the fetching.
40. Rapid Finding
Discrimination, Observation, Speed
Repeat the previous drill but with a newly prepared
and different list of orders and have all children ex-
cept the one executing the order, close their eyes so that
they may not rely on memory for the proper location
when replacing on second round. Also have them,
with their eyes closed, count out loud in concert with
the teacher while the search is being made, to determine
the time taken by each pupil in executing the order.
Thus, Teacher :
" John, get me my hand bag from the closet."
The children close their eyes and count, one, two,
three, four, five, six, etc., in concert with the teacher.
Teacher :
" Thank you " — as it is handed to her. Children
stop their counting and open their eyes at the signal,
" Thank you."
44
Habit Drills — Observation
41. Rapid Finding and Replacing
Observation, Attention, Memory
Read a newly prepared list of orders for fetching,
but have the children act on the directions not as given
but simultaneously after the entire list has been read
and the teacher has said " Now, each do what I told
you." Then have the children replace the articles
simultaneously after the orders have been re-assorted,
so that the child does not replace what he fetched.
42. Finding Book
Observation, Attention
Show the children a book and ask them to note its
characteristic features, color, size, thickness. Then
ask them to turn their backs while you place the book
among others in the bookcase. Then ask a child to
find and bring you the book in the quickest possible
time. Count out loud and have the children do so
with you till the book is found.
Repeat the exercise, placing the book on another
shelf or in a different section, and have each child in
turn find it, seeing who can do so in the shortest time.
43. Arranging Colors
Observation, Discrimination, Cleanliness
Give the children spools, reels or bobbins of embroid-
ery floss or worsted, in varying tones and shades of
45
Child Training
red, orange, yellow, blue, green, violet, unassorted. It
is supposed that the names of the colors have been
learned in a previous Manual Training Period. Have
the children make their hands surgically clean, in order
not to soil the delicate colors, then ask the first child to
pick out red and arrange by it all its shades and tints
in their proper order, from normal to dark, and from
normal to light. The normal is the rainbow color,
its tints are the same color lightened in different de-
grees, its shades are the same color darkened in dif-
ferent degrees.
Ask the second child to do the same with the orange,
and so on.
44. Matching Fabrics
Observation, Discrimination, Cleanliness
Prepare a box of good sized odds and ends of dif-
ferent colored fabrics, being sure that there are two or
more of precisely the same tone, but of different ma-
terial, for example, a square of lavender cotton, a bit
of lavender ribbon, a scrap of lavender spool silk, etc.,
all matching. Give a piece of material to each child
and have him find the other pieces that match it.
45. Selecting Appropriate Material
Observation, Good Taste, Judgment
Prepare a box of odds and ends of tailors' samples
of cloth, also madras, percale, shirting material and the
a6
Habit Drills — Observation
like. Then have the boys pick out samples of goods
for an imaginary outfit and the girls do likewise with
the box previously used.
The boys and girls should then comment on the selec-
tion each has made and the teacher criticize both,
or suggest improvements in color scheme or choice of
materials.
The teacher should call attention to the fact that
certain colors are more becoming to blondes and certain
others to brunettes, that some colors are loud or con-
spicuous, and others, all right by themselves, clash when
associated.
The laws governing color harmonies and taste in
colors are not adequately covered by any rule. Taste
is simply the result of cultivation, in observing fine
discriminations and continually striving to feel the
effect of different combinations on the esthetic emo-
tions.
The teacher should be quite sure she is right (and
who can be) before insisting on the acceptance of her
own choice. On the other hand, the children should
be encouraged to have a favorite color, an opinion of
their own as to color harmonies with a reason, if pos-
sible, in such a case.
47
Child Training
46. Finding Color
Observation
Say to the children, " I want you to tell me all the
colors you can see in this room — or out of doors —
or, in this colored picture." One child may then say,
" I see red, do you? "
The next one, or the teacher tells where he sees red,
until the first child says, " Yes, that 's it."
Continue this till small and obscure bits of color are
seen and recognized, and names are learned for other
colors and shades that are not prismatic, such as gilt,
tan, flesh color.
47. ''Shop Window"
Observation, Attention, Concentration, Memory
On a table place a dozen promiscuous articles, such
as a book, a doll, a cake of soap, a pair of scissors, a
box of matches, a piece of ribbon, and so on, being
careful that the children do not see what the things are.
Cover these articles with a cloth and tell the children
when you draw the cloth they are to notice and bear
in mind as many of the articles as they can before you
cover them.
Then give the warning signal of attention, saying,
" Now."
Draw the cloth, count five and replace it. Ask
the children to close their eyes and go over in their
48
Habit Drills — Observation
minds what they saw, being careful to mention nothing
out loud till directed to do so.
Give them a second glance to confirm or correct their
mental list, exposing the articles to view once more,
but this time only, while you count two. Then call
upon a child and have him give a list of the articles
he remembers having seen. If he fails to give a
complete list or names articles incorrectly, other chil-
dren may be called upon to complete the list or make
corrections. Repeat the exercise several times, change
ing the articles each time, of course, and reducing the
time, increasing the number of articles and omitting
the second view as the children become quicker and
more accurate in observing. The exercise is a valuable
one to give once each day or every few days for some
time.
48. Sight Seeing
Observation, Attention, Concentration, Memory
Take the children on a tour of inspection to visit
another room in the house. Tell them they are to
notice everything they can in the room, the number of
windows, the chairs, closets, bookcases, pictures, plants,
and miscellaneous articles. Arrange the children in a
position to view the room when the door is opened,
then open it, saying,
" Now."
Count ten and close the door. Have a child describe
49
Child Training
the details he has observed as fully as he can and have
them augmented and corrected as in the previous drill.
49. Hunting Coin
Observation, Attention, Self-control
Play the game of " Hunt the Coin." Have the chil-
dren close their eyes, or leave the room, while you place
a penny, a quarter or other coin, in some part of the
room w^here it can be seen — not under cover — on a
pedal of the piano or in the bottom of a glass, for in-
stance. Then ask the children to hunt and when they
have seen the quarter, whisper its location to you and
take their places by your side without betraying where
the coin is by look, gesture or exclamation. Continue
the game by having a child do the hiding.
50. Altering Card
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
Lay out on a table a dozen playing cards or pictures
of a uniform size in three rows of four each. Cover
them until ready to give the test. At the usual signal,
" Now," draw the cover and have the children note the
arrangement. Then cover or have the children close
their eyes or turn their backs while you change the
arrangement of one card or picture or exchange it for
another. On signal, have them re-observe the cards to
find out, if they can, what alteration has taken place.
50
Habit Drills — Observation
51. Describing a Child
Observation, Attention, Courtesy
Ask a child to stand before the class, turn round for
inspection, then leave the room. After he has done
so, ask the children to describe the cut and material of
his clothes, the color of his hair and eyes, etc. Be
careful that children do not become unpleasantly per-
sonal in this exercise. Explain the golden rule.
52. Describing a Person
Observation, Discrimination, Courtesy
Ask a child to describe a person with whom all are
familiar and have the others guess who is meant, the
correct identifier to have the privilege of the next de-
scription. Ask the children to describe any visitor to
the class after he leaves.
53. Observing Changes of Dress
Observation, Discrimination, Attention
Standing before the class and turning round so that
they may view you from all sides, ask them to observe
every detail of your dress, so that they will be able
to recognize any change made in it. Then go from the
room and alter, add or take off some detail. For ex-
ample, take off a pin or change its position, undo one
button, hide a handkerchief that was previously visible
or vice versa, change a belt buckle from front to back
51
Child Training
or a bow from right to left and so on. When you
return, ask those who notice any change that has been
made to raise their hands and have one of them tell
what it is. Then have the child giving the correct ob-
servation, take your place and go through a similar
exercise, endeavoring to make an original change in his
own costume.
54. Describing a Picture
Observation, Discrimination, Language, Appreciation
Prepare a set of pictures, preferably copies of famous
paintings, in each of which there are people doing some-
thing as, for example, Millet's " First Step." Ask the
children to examine carefully the picture selected for
the lesson, so as to be able not only to enumerate all
the elements of the picture, but to describe the action
— what is taking place. Thus, in the case of the
" First Step," in response to the question,
"What do you see?" they should not merely say,
" I see a man, a woman, a baby, a shovel, a wheel-
barrow, a fence, trees," etc., but, " I see a man kneel-
ing with one knee on the ground, stretching out his
hands to a little child whom the mother is holding up
while trying to walk to its father. The father has just
come from work and has left his wheelbarrow and
dropped his shovel by his side. The mother and child
have just come out of the gate to meet him," and so
on. Then ask them for further details, such as,
52
Habit Drills — Observation
" Which knee is the father resting on ? "
"Which foot has the child raised?"
" Is the wheelbarrow full or empty ? "
" Has the man a coat on ? "
" What kind of hat has the woman? " etc.
Continue in this way on other days with other pic'
tures, the names of which the child should, of course,
be told.
55. Guessing Picture Described
Observation, Discrimination, Memory, Language
Ask each child in turn to describe a picture studied
on a previous day and have the other children name
the picture after he has finished the description. The
child answering correctly is then to give a description
of another picture.
56. Living Pictures
Observation, Attention, Memory, Imitation
Prepare a set of pictures, not necessarily different
from the foregoing, in which the action or the pose of
the figures, can be imitated, for example, Raphael's
Cherubs, from the picture of the Sistine Madonna.
Ask the children to scrutinize this picture, noticing the
position of the arms, hands, head, eyes, etc. Then ask
one to imitate the pose of the right hand or the left
hand cherub, or two children to imitate the group.
The pose should be practised till it corresponds in every
53
Child Training
detail, so that if a photograph were taken, it would be
the exact counterpart of the original, except, of course,
in features and dress. In the same way, other pictures
with more dramatic action like the " First Step " should
be imitated. Ask a child to "act out" a picture and
have the other children guess the picture intended.
The child selected should make his own choice of
picture to be acted, but not tell any one what it is,
except of course any others he needs and should call
upon to act with him.
57. Statues
A variation of the foregoing game is called
"Statues". Ask each child to pose as a statue of, A
Soldier, A Praying Child, etc.
58. Criticising Incongruous Pictures
Attention, Discrimination, Judgment
Prepare a set of pictures in each of which there is
something wrong, lacking, incongruous, grotesque or
peculiar — a chicken with four legs, a man with arms
attached to his neck instead of his shoulders, a tele-
phone standing upside down, a bearded man in woman's
clothes, a horse looking out of a window of a house, a
man digging with a broom, a dog with only three
legs, a clock without hands or with hands and no fig-
ures, a drum or bucket with both top and bottom show-
ing at the same time (difficult), a dog chasing a cow
smaller than himself, an American flag with the stripes
54
Habit Drills — Observation
running vertically or the stars in the wrong corner.
etc.
Give each child a picture, tell him to make no com-
ment aloud, but, when he has discovered the peculiarity,
to raise his hand and whisper it to you when you go
to his side. Exchange the pictures and continue till
each has had a turn to inspect all of the pictures, after
which the peculiarities may be discussed aloud.
59. Finding Hidden Pictures
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
Prepare a set of hidden pictures, that is, pictures hid-
den within the drawing of another obvious picture.
For instance, the obvious picture may be of an old man
leaning on a cane and the hidden picture a fairy in his
beard, seen only by turning the picture upside down.
Such pictures may usually be found in the daily papers.
Give each child one of these hidden pictures, tell him
what he is to look for and, when he has discovered it,
to indicate to the teacher privately where it is. The
picture may then be passed to the next and the same
thing continued.
60. Observing Neighborhood Details
Observation, Attention
Ask the children to notice anything peculiar, new, or
interesting that they see on the way to school and tell
about it at the conversation period the next day. For
55
Child Training
instance, they might report a placard posted on a tele-
graph pole, a window flower box in a house down the
street, a new awning over a store, a sidewalk being re-
paired, a house being painted.
6i. Observing Neighborhood Details
Observation, Attention
Ask the children where in the neighborhood is the
nearest letter box, drug store, fire alarm, clock, doctor's
office, public telephone, telegraph office ; what house has
outside shutters, which one a front porch or a bow
window, where are there marble steps, and so on.
62. Observing Neighborhood Details
Observation, Attention, Discrimination, Memory
Ask the children to notice all the important features
of houses or landscape in the neighborhood, then give
each a turn to ask where such and such a thing is, or
what can be seen at such a place ; the one answering cor-
rectly to have the next turn to propound a question.
The children should be taught to discriminate be-
tween the important and unimportant by having the
latter ruled out as such.
Is the house on the corner wood, brick or stone? Is
the one cat-a-cornered from it three or four stories
high? Is the one across the way red or yellow ? Has
the church down the street one door or more ?
56
Habit Drills — Observation
6^. " Stranger in Town "
Observation, Direction, Courtesy, Dramatic Imitation
Tell the children to imagine that you are a stranger
in town and want to know how to get to the hotel, the
post office or the railroad station. Ask one of them to
give you the shortest and clearest direction he can to
indicate the route you must take. Ask another to im-
prove on the directions, if he can. Then have one of
their number pretend to be the stranger and ask to be
directed to the points of interest. Have the one spoken
to show courtesy, cordiality and graciousness, but also
reserve, avoiding gushing or the manners of a confi-
dence man.
Have the two selected act out before the class such
possible street scenes with all the vividness of reality
that they can give.
64. " He Can Do Little "
Observation, Attention
Play the game of " He can do little." The teacher
holding a cane in the right hand says to the children,
" You must watch me closely and imitate exactly what
I do and say. Those who succeed in imitating me
exactly, come to my side." She then taps the cane
on the floor, saying at the same time,
" He can do little, who can't do this," and passes
the cane first to her left hand and then to the next
57
Child Training
child. The point is that the next child attending to
the words and the tapping will fail to observe how the
cane was passed and will naturally pass it directly from
the right hand in which it is held. Each child in turn
tries to imitate and the teacher says, " right " or
" wrong." Those successful go to the teacher's side.
The teacher then repeats and the remaining children
try again to imitate. Of course, the children who
have correctly observed should be cautioned not to re-
veal the secret by any word, gesture, emphasis or in
any other way than by the accurate imitation. A more
difficult variation of this is to use the words " I re-
ceived it crossed and pass it uncrossed," or " I received
it uncrossed and pass it crossed," and so on.
" Crossed " being used when passed or received from
the right hand and uncrossed when passed or received
from the left hand.
65. " The Moon is Round "
Observation, Attention
In the game of " The Moon Is Round," the teacher
says, " The moon is round and has two eyes, a nose and
a mouth," at the same time drawing in the air with the
index finger of the left hand an imaginary picture of
the moon, suiting the action to the word, thus — de-
scribing a circle when she says, " The moon is round,"
indicating two dots for eyes when she says, " has two
eyes," and a vertical and horizontal dash, respectively,
58
Habit Drills — Observation
when she says, " a nose and a mouth." The child, if
right handed, will naturally draw the moon with the
index finger of the right hand and the point, of course,
for him to observe and carry out is the use of the left
finger.
66. What Do You Hear/
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
Ask the children to close their eyes, keep quiet for
two minutes and listen and note all the various sounds
they hear. Then at the expiration of that time, ask,
" Who has heard five different things ; has any one
heard any more ? " Then ask the one who has ob-
served the greatest number to enumerate them. Thus
he might say he had heard the sound of a wagon on
the street — if he mentions the sound of the wheels and
of the horse's hoofs and the creak of an axle, each
counts one — the ticking or striking of a clock, the
scraping of a chair, a footstep in the hall, the toot of a
steam whistle, the clang of a bell, the flap of a curtain,
the cry of a huckster, the honk of an automobile, the
running of water, a song or whistle of a workman, the
knocking in a radiator, the splash or patter of rain,
the pound of a hammer, the ripping of a saw, or other
such sounds.
59
Child Training
67. Who Speaksf
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
Explain that one child, whom you will indicate, is to
leave the room and speak from outside in his natural
voice and the remainder of the class is to try to deter-
mine who it is from the sound of his voice.
Have the children sit in line with their backs turned
and eyes shut. Touch one of them on the shoulder
and have him tip-toe out of the room unobserved by
his classmates. From that position he should call upon
one of the children to guess who is speaking. This
may be varied by having the speaker place his hands
from behind over the eyes of any child he may choose,
then answer in his natural voice any question the child
so blindfolded may ask him.
68. What Makes the Sound?
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
With the children seated, as in the previous exercise,
make sounds of different sorts and have each child in
turn tell what it is. Tap on the floor, the wall, the door,
the window, a hollow box, a drinking glass ; clap the
hands, clap two books together ; snap the fingers, stamp
or scrape the foot, rub the hands together, crumple a
newspaper, rattle the door knob, drum on the desk,
shake the coins in your pocket or a bunch of keys, etc.
60
Habit Drills — Observation
69. What Animal Is Itf
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
Make different imitative sounds with your lips,
tongue, throat, etc., such as the cackle of a hen, the
buzz of a bee or mosquito, the grunt of a pig, the
whinny of a horse, the bark of a dog, the meow of a
cat, the moo of a cow, etc., and have each child in turn
tell what is intended.
70. Timing Glasses
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
Give each child two drinking glasses, one empty, the
other containing some water. Put some water in a
glass of your own and tap it to give a musical note.
Show the children that adding water raises the pitch of
the note and pouring out water lowers it. Then have
them experiment with their own glasses, adding and
pouring out water till the pitch of their glasses matches
that of the teacher's. Children at this age have, as a
general rule, a very poor ear for music and though en-
tering into songs and rhythmic exercise with the great-
est spirit, do not readily distinguish shades of difference
in pitch, often sharping and flatting a note or more
without being conscious of doing so. These exercises
are, therefore, important for training the ear.
61
Child Training
71. Tuning a String
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
Take a violin or other stringed instrument, or stretch
a gut string so that its pitch can be regulated by turn-
ing a key and have each child in turn tune a string in
unison with a tuning fork, a pitch pipe, or a note on
the piano.
^2. Matching Notes
Observation, Attention, Discrimination
Sing a note and have the children together and
then in turn sing the note, saying, " Ah," Sound a
note on the piano, pitch pipe or other instrument and
have the children imitate it. The children may in the
same way sing other notes in succession.
yT,. Singing the Scale
Observation, Attention, Discrimination, Imitation
Have the children sing the scale in concert with you
without you and by themselves separately. Sing notes
at different intervals, 3rds, 5ths, octaves, ascending
and descending and have the children do the same after
you.
62
IMITATION DRILLS
Imitation involves close observation, in fact it is
observation put into action. Children delight in imi-
tation, especially in the kind of mimicry that is gro^
tesque, exaggerated and lacking in respect.
74. Pantomime
Observation, Imitation
Have each child in turn, act in pantomime and have
the class guess who or what is intended. Some suitable
subjects are motorman, postman, chauffeur, carpenter,
horseshoer, fisherman, tight-rope walker, typewriter,
pianist, a woman doing up her hair, a man shaving, a
boy batting a base ball or playing tennis, and so on.
They should notice all the little characteristics, attitudes
and movements not only of the body, arms and fingers,
but of the face and imitate them with as close fidelity
as they are able.
75. Imitating by Voice and Gesture
Imitation
Have the children in turn imitate different charac-
ters, as in the previous lesson, but employ speech as
well as pantomime — a man telephoning, a conductor
63
Child Training
collecting fares, a doctor prescribing for a patient, a
hostess receiving guests.
76. Tzvo Part Acting
Imitation
Have two of the children act together and imitate
as previously, a mother or nurse dressing a child, a
woman being fitted for a dress, a gentleman calling on
a lady.
yy. Charades
Imitation
Have the children divide into two groups and each
group in turn act a scene that is descriptive of a word
or a play upon a word, while the other group tries to
guess what is intended.
64
ASSOCIATION DRILLS
The habit of associating and comparing whatever
is observed with what is already in the mind is one
of the most valuable of all mental functions. Upon
it depend imagination, memory ; originality, invention ;
wit and humor; reason, judgment; abstraction, gener-
alization, etc. In fact, simple observation, the simple
recording of mental images of the outside world is of
comparatively little value without association. Some
children and people seem naturally to associate every
mental image while others seldom do, but the habit can
be developed by practice and is capable of the greatest
possibilities.
78. Associating Ideas
Association
Name a color — red, for instance — and ask each
child in turn to name things that are red — fire, lips, a
rose, rubies, etc. Then ask a child, pursuing the vari-
ous associations in different directions, to tell what each
of these things suggest — fire on the hearth, a build-
ing on fire, etc. Then ask another child, starting with
the color blue, in the same way to think of one thing
that it suggests and another thing suggested by the
65
Child Training
second association, and so on. Then ask him to give
the last step reached, leaving out the intermediate steps.
He should then explain by tracing his thoughts back-
wards how he came to think of what he did. For
instance, a child might say, " Blue — a tree that was
struck by lightning," and explain that blue suggested
sky ; sky, clouds ; clouds, storm ; storm, lightning ; and
lightning the tree that was struck by it. Oftentimes
an association is so instantaneous, that it is difficult
to trace it back to its starting point.
Repeat the previous exercise, using any object or
topic as a starting point. Anything at all will do, —
the window, pins and needles, a boat, dreams, an or-
ange, moving pictures, excuses. Have the children
practise association, especially at the conversation
period, making as wide and varied mental associations
as they can, but of that number selecting only those as-
sociations that are of interest for telling.
79. Riming
Association
This and the following exercise seem particularly to
delight the heart of the child. It is just as well, there-
fore, to let him try riming and punning even though
both sound execrable to an older person.
Suggest one line — a sentence or phrase — and have
each child in turn originate a line to rime with it, thus
for example :
66
Habit Drills — Association
Teacher says: " I 'm the boy."
Child, after thinking a moment and trying over a
number of rimes says :
" Who broke the toy."
Teacher, to next child : " There was a girl."
Child : " Who had a curl."
Teacher : " In a house."
Child : " There lived a mouse."
80. Punning
Association
Say a sentence in which a word is used that has a
double meaning and have each child in turn notice the
word and use it in another sentence and in another
sense.
Following is a list of some words that may be so
used:
Flour, flower. So, sew. Pail, pale. Stair, stare.
Week, weak. Ate, eight. Know, no. Knows, nose.
Be, bee. New, knew. Blue, blew. Pair, pear.
Hear, here. One, won. Red, read. Heal, heel.
Cent, sent. I, eye. Son, sun. See, sea. Hole,
whole. Through, threw, etc.
81. Conundrums
Ask the child the following conundrums and riddles
and make sure he understands the answers and sees
their point.
67
Child Training
When are cooks cruel ? Ans. When they beat eggs
and whip cream.
What key is the hardest to turn? Ans. A don-
key.
Why do you always put on your left shoe last ? Ans.
Because the last one is the left one.
What is black and white and red (read) all over?
Ans. The newspaper.
What animal carries luggage ? Ans. The elephant
carries a trunk.
Riddles
What are the following?
What is full of holes and yet holds water?
Ans. A sponge.
" Thirty white horses on a red hill,
Now they tramp, now they champ, now they stand
still."
Ans. Teeth.
" Old Mother Twitchett had but one eye,
And a long tail which she let fly ;
And every time she went through a gap,
A bit of her tail she left in a trap."
Ans. A needle and thread.
" As round as an apple,
As deep as a cup;
68
Habit Drills — Association
And all the King's horses
Can not pull it up."
Ans. A well.
** Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall ;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
Not all the king's horses, nor all the king's men
Could set Humpty Dumpty together again."
Ans. An tgg.
82. Two Minute Conversation
Association, Attention, Concentration
Using the second hand of an ordinary watch, give a
child a subject and have him start on the instant to talk
about it, not stopping till " time " is called at the end
of two minutes. A pause of any noticeable extent,
more than is natural at the end of a sentence or to take
breath counts as failure. For instance, the topic given
might have been " Breakfast." Instantly the child
might say,
" I was late to breakfast this morning (and then
continue on the associated line of thought), my nurse
did not call me in time, she overslept," etc.
69
IMAGINATION DRILLS
Imagination has been called the supreme intellectual
faculty, for it plays a most important part in the prac-
tical as well as in the esthetic life. Genius has been
defined as the ability to imagine things that do not exist
and wit is nothing but unexpected flashes of the imag-
ination in seeing associations that are not obvious.
The inventor, the discoverer, the originator must have
imagination, the author and the poet, the painter and
the musician must have imagination, and if we are
ever to enjoy life and literature and art and music and
the " works of the imagination " we must have it also.
Accordingly, if the child in later life is to find " tongues
in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in
stones," he must make an early beginning.
The child's imaginative plays and fanciful stories
will assist the growth of this faculty, but it should also
be developed by encouraging the child in his make-be-
lieve. Let him fancy his apple sauce is ice cream, his
bread, cake and his glass of water, lemonade. Let him
imagine the butterflies are sprites and that Jack-in-the-
Pulpit is preaching to the elfin Johnny-jump-ups.
But care should be taken to see that the child recog-
nizes his make-believe as make-believe, and that it is
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Habit Drills — Imagination
not confounded with reality. This confusion often
leads children into story telling with the idea to deceive.
Children need not be discouraged in their romancing
but they should be taught to offer their fairy tales as
fairy tales and not as deceptions. Furthermore, they
should return at once to the serious actualities at hand
the moment they are required, for an unrestrained im-
agination may lead to very serious consequences.
With this warning sounded, however, healthy imagina-
tion may prove of the greatest value.
83. Describing Imaginary Scene
Have a child go to the window and from that posi-
tion give the class an account of what, in imagination,
he sees there, for example, a circus parade. Pass a
book or a newspaper round the class and give each child
in turn a few minutes to " read " an imaginary story
from it or describe an imaginary picture.
84. Make Believe
Ask the children to " make believe " that cer-
tain things you are going to suggest are happening, and
ask them to act accordingly. Then say, " Make believe
it 's cold," or " Act as if it were freezing." The
children might then turn up their collars, draw their
heads dnwn into their coats, put their hands over their
ears, blow on their fingers, shiver, etc.
Then make such suggestions, as.
Child Training
It 's hot,
It 's windy,
It 's raining,
It 's snowing, etc., and have them act as they might
under such circumstances.
J2
ATTENTION AND CONCENTRATION DRILLS
Many of the previous drills are also exercises in at-
tention and concentration. A few special exercises,
however, are particularly devised for forming this most
important habit.
As explained in the General Instructions, concentra-
tion is best obtained by demanding speed, setting a
time limit, and making all tasks " piece work."
When, however, there is interest, attention and con-
centration follow. Certain interesting drills requir-
ing attention and concentration are here given, there-
fore, so as to form the habit.
85. Threading the Needle
Give each child half a dozen needles and as many
pieces of thread and have the class start on signal and
see which is first to finish threading his needles.
86. " Jack Strazvs "
Have the children play at jack straws. Call atten-
tion to the fact that breathing is a motion of the body
which is observable even in the finger-tips and as there
must be no motion in this game, other than the inten-
tional one, it is necessary for each child to hold his
breath while detaching a " straw " from the pile. Even
71
Child Training
the beating of the heart may be perceptible in the
fingers, but of course, this is uncontrollable.
^y. Dropping Medicine
Teach the children to drop medicine out of a bottle.
The throat of the bottle must first be wet with the
liquid, either by pouring some out first or pouring it as
far as the edge, stopping it there with the cork. The
liquid should then be dropped without the aid of the
cork, and each child directed to drop a certain number
of drops, three, five, six, etc.
88. Untangling a Snarl
Give each child a piece of rope or heavy twine that
has been purposely knotted, tied and snarled and have
him unravel it, as promptly as possible.
89. Rapid Copying Mid Distractions
No matter how well a person can concentrate, tests
show that he can always work more efficiently when
free from distractions. The best conditions, there-
fore, for study or any work requiring concentration
are those that are removed from all noise and free
from interruption. But though concentration is best
obtained in quiet and undisturbed surroundings it is
best taught mid distractions.
For this exercise divide the class in half. Allow
one-half to play and talk as they please, thus provid-
74
Habit Drills — Attention
ing an actively distracting element, while the other
half of the class is practising attention and concen-
tration. Standing before this half of the class, go
through various motions and have the children copy
promptly and accurately without any oral direction.
Thus : Look down, up, to one side ; place your finger
on your forehead, ear, mouth and other parts of the
body; point to the corner of the room, put your arms
akimbo, and so on, in as rapid succession as possible,
not giving an opportunity for the child's attention to
wander if he follows your lead. Then take the other
half of the class in the same way.
90. Answering Three Questions
Ask each child in turn two unlike questions and
have him answer them after both have been asked.
Starting with but two simple questions increase the
number and the complexity of the questions, thus:
Teacher says, " I 'm going to ask you three ques-
tions but I don't w^ant you to answer them till I have
finished asking all three. Then I want you to an-
swer each question in the order in which it was asked.
Now listen!
"What color is this?" (She holds up a piece of
ribbon.)
" What is that? " (She points to a picture.)
"Do you like milk?"
The child should then answer,
75
Child Training
" That is red."
" That is a picture."
" Yes, I like milk."
91. " Stage Coach "
Give each child a word, such as driver, whip, horses,
wheel, door, etc., then tell a story in which you use
these words. Every time you mention a word which
a child has been given, that child is to stand up, turn
round, and sit down and every time the word Stage
Coach is mentioned all the children are to stand up,
turn round and sit down. Thus, after explaining
what is to be done, as above, the teacher starts out,
" Once upon a time a man started off on a long
journey in a Stage Coach. (Every child at the
word stage coach, should jump up, turn round and sit
down. The teacher, however, proceeds without paus-
ing.) The Driver (here the child given the word
driver, jumps up, turns round, sits down) cracked his
Whip and the Horses started off at a trot — " and
so on, till the stage coach runs into a ditch and turns
over.
In the same way any other group of words can be
taken, such as house, window, door, stairs, chimney,
ladder, etc., and a story be told of a house on fire.
76
Habit Drills — Attention
92. Continuing a Story
Start telling a story and when the plot is partly
developed stop and ask a child to supply what you
omit and continue with the narrative, for example:
Teacher says: "Once upon a time there was a
little boy whose name was — "
Child : "Jim."
Teacher resumes: "And he was just like all other
little boys except for one thing; he had what
do you suppose?"
Child: "Wings."
Teacher: "No. He had ears that were so pointed
that they looked like little horns. And his mother
was ashamed of them and let his hair grow long to
cover them up. Now one day as she was looking out
of the window she saw to her amazement in the
garden "
Child (and so on).
93. Naming a Flower
Point to a child and say "Flower"; then immedi-
ately start to count "i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6," trying to reach
10 before the child called upon has time to give
the name of some fiower. Vary this by saying,
"Tree," "Vegetable," "Fruit," "Bird," etc.
77
Child Training
94. Reciting a Poem and Counting Taps
Call upon a child to recite a poem that he knows while
during the recital you tap. When he has finished ask
him how many times you tapped.
95. " Philopena " — Give and Take
Have pairs of children " eat a philopena." Each
pair link arms and eat a half peanut, or crumb of
bread or anything by way of ceremony in forming a
compact, saying " Give and Take for ," naming
some forfeit, if there is to be one. After this, neither
child must take anything handed him by the other.
Each tries to hand the other something when off-guard
— that is, not paying attention — and if it is taken,
the one offering says " Philopena " and wins the for-
feit agreed upon.
96. " Philopena " — Yes and No
Have pairs of children do as described above, but say
" Yes and No," instead of " Give and Take." Each
child then strives by skilful questioning to surprise the
other into saying " Yes " or " No."
97. Memorizing
Dictate a verse of a poem slowly and distinctly (use
those given under Rhythmic Arts) ; repeat it a sec-
ond time and ask a child to say it when you have fin-
78
Habit Drills — Attention
ished. With practice of this sort, children will learn
to say a stanza of several lines in length, after having
heard it only once or twice.
98. Repeating List of Words
Tell the children you are going to name a number
of different things and that you want to see who can
repeat the entire list in the order given without a mis-
take. Then, at the signal " Attention," name the fol-
lowing or a similar list of words between which there
is some association, calling each word twice distinctly
and slowly, thus: House, door; door, street; street,
wagon ; wagon, horse ; horse, dog ; dog, man ; man, bed ;
bed, night ; night, Christmas ; Christmas, drum ; drum,
noise; noise, steam cars; steam cars, smoke; smoke,
dirt; dirt, soap; soap, water; water, milk; milk, cow;
cow^ tree; tree, birds; and so on. Then ask a child
to repeat the list. This may seem more difficult than
it really is. A child who has paid attention (they will
oftentimes unconsciously close their eyes in order to
concentrate) will usually be able to repeat a list of this
sort of almost indefinite length.
99. Hearing Simultaneous Orders
Have two pupils start on signal and each give simul-
taneously a different order to a single child previously
selected for the drill. The child is then to executd
both orders without further question.
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Child Training
lOO. Speaking and Listening Simultaneously
Ask each child to get a short statement or piece of
news ready in his mind, something to tell his next
neighbor, not more than a sentence in length, such as,
To-morrow is Thursday,
It is a pleasant day,
I am five years old.
Have the children seated in a circle or round a table,
then at the signal, " Now " have every child simul-
taneously speak to his right-hand neighbor in an or-
dinary conversational tone, the statement he has pre-
pared, at the same time listening to what his left hand
neighbor is saying to him. There should be no rep-
etition, but when finished, each in turn, as called upon
by teacher, should repeat what his left hand neighbor
said to him and verify the statement.
80
FURTHER HABIT DRILLS
The preceding drills are not by any means exhaust-
ive but every teacher or parent who has gone through
these should have so imbibed their spirit as to be ready
to vary or extend them, or to originate other drills to
suit the needs of her own particular case.
Many habits are also formed by the activities pre-
scribed for the following periods. For example, habits
of courtesy, unselfishness, etc., are formed by Social
Training; industry, accuracy, concentration, etc., by
Manual Training and so on.
One of the most valuable of all habits — the habit
of initiative — must be inculcated not by infrequent
drills, but by daily calling upon the child to suggest
something, start something, do something, without the
teacher specifying what or how. For this purpose it
is best to call upon the children at the free play, man-
ual training, rhythmic art or other period and especially
upon those that are prone to copy and constantly wait
for others to make a start or take the lead.
Certain habits by their very nature cannot be staged
for practice but must be inculcated as the occasion
arises. For instance, we cannot train a child in self-con-
trol under circumstances such as fear, because it would
8i
Child Training
be manifestly improper to cause him terror for the pur-
pose of practising him in self-control. On the other
hand, it is perfectly feasible to drill the child in cour-
age and fortitude by causing him bodily pain with the
purpose of seeing how much he can stand without a
whimper. This Spartan-like drill is not so cruel as it
sounds and the idea comes from the children them-
selves. I have known children to say, " You can't
hurt me " and offer their arms for pinching, their hair
for pulling, on the wager that they could not be made
to cry out. Tests of this sort that work no bodily
injury might be of great value in teaching courage and
scorn of minor aches and pains and might develop a
spirit that not only should stand the child in good
stead throughout life, but should smooth the domestic
way for the whole family.
In order to prevent any danger that might arise from
over habituation as described under " Breaking of
Habits," it is well occasionally to act as follows:
Alter the program so as to exchange periods, for
instance, story telling for manual training or give les-
sons at a different time of day.
Vary the sequence of exercises or the forms or man-
ner of execution.
Give drills and exercises in a different room
or different setting from usual.
Let a visitor or substitute give a lesson or a whole
day's program.
82
Vhotograpli by uaclirach
SOCIAL TRAINING
"Introducing" — Teaching common courtesies
PART II
SOCIAL TRAINING
We learn more from intercourse with our fellows
than we do from any other one source. We receive
information from them; we acquire both their good
and bad traits and manners, by conscious and uncon-
scious imitation ; we learn to bear and forbear ; we are
forced to react upon their stimulus ; in sheer self-de-
fense we are roused into mental activity by fear of
chagrin or shame at being outdone; we are put upon
our mettle to keep the pace.
It is for these reasons that the association of other
children is so desirable, it stimulates reaction.
A man may walk alone and dreaming down a side
street, but when he comes to the teeming crowds of
Broadway he must quickly come to attention and be on
the alert, else he will have his pocket picked, be jostled
out of his course, have his way blocked, miss his
car, be run over by a cab. The newsboy's proverbial
cleverness and general alertness is derived from the
crowd, the result of dodging vehicles, watching for
signals for papers, outwitting his competitors.
Social intercourse raises a host of situations which
85
Child Training
the child should learn how to meet and deal with, in
order that he may get the most from that intercourse.
If a regular program is observed each day with a
fixed time for beginning the class, show children the
position of the hands of the clock at the hour for
commencing and tell them that they are to watch the
clock for that time and precisely at that hour, with-
out signal from their teacher, they must be in seats
grouped in an irregular — not too precise — circle, as
for a simple gathering. Children should not occupy
the same position every day but arrange themselves ac-
cording to personal choice, with due regard for the
preferences of others, yielding to such preferences and
endeavoring to favor others, as in special gatherings
of grown-ups, rather than insisting on their own.
These points are to be insistently drilled upon daily
at this occasion till they become fixed daily habits.
Children on arriving or coming down stairs for the
first time in the day should greet parents, teachers and
other children with, " Good Morning," and add some
solicitous inquiry, cordial wish or gracious remark.
Teach them the common forms and varieties, such
as: " How are you to-day? " " I hope you are feel-
ing better." " Is n't this a lovely day ? " etc., and sug-
gest that they originate others, not stereotyped, to suit
occasions. Don't let them omit this or be contented
with the mere " Good Morning," till the habit is firmly
fixed. A child who has acquired even this habit is al-
86
Social Training
ready at an advantage and has learned a valuable les-
son that is usually left to be picked up, if at all, much
later in life.
Any late comer should go at once to the hostess —
the teacher — and apologize for being late, as for an
adult dinner party or other function where prompt-
ness is expected.
At the hour for beginning, the children should rise
from seats, bow their heads in attitudes of reverence
and recite, ensemble after the teacher the Lord's
Prayer or some other classic prayer. By her attitude
and suggestions rather than by explanation she should
inspire in the children feelings of reverence, humility
and awe for the big, majestic, sublime mysteries of the
universe. She will be successful if she can, for a few
minutes, raise them to the heights above the trivial
and petty.
Each child in turn, as a special privilege, should
be allowed to select and lead the prayer, but the
teacher should surrender the function of priestess,
which is hers by right, only with great care. On
ending the prayer the children should then in the same
spirit sing a Te Deum, Gloria in Excelsis, Laudate
Domini, or similar hymn of praise, something big —
nothing denominational, sentimental or episodic.
After the opening ritual the remainder of the pe-
riod should be taken up with drills in common cour-
tesies and general conversation.
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Child Training
COMMON COURTESIES
Some of the common courtesies that are usually
considered a sign of good breeding when found in
children are mentioned below. They are obvious
" good manners " but often their absence is excused in
a child, or not even noted, because he is a child. On
the other hand, for that very reason, they are all the
more conspicuously pleasing when exhibited by a child.
Formal drills as with habit drills can be given for each
of these courtesies, without waiting for the occasion
or opportunity to arise.
1. One should always knock and wait for a re-
sponding " Come in," before entering any closed
door. In order to drill in this, send each child out
of the room, have him knock and tell him to *' Come
in."
2. Children should be careful not to pass in front
of any one, unless compelled by circumstances to do
so, when they should say, " Excuse me " or " I beg
your pardon." Send each child across the room to
fetch or carry something so that his direct path passes
in front of others and he must therefore go around or
say, " I beg your pardon."
3. Boys should rise from their seats at the approach
of their teacher, an older person, or one of their own
number, if a girl. Practise this and the following
courtesies by creating the situation described.
88
Social Training
4. Boys should wait for girls to be seated before
sitting down themselves.
5. Boys when going through a door should wait
for girls or older persons to pass through first,
6. A boy should offer his own chair to the teacher
or to a girl, it there are no chairs nearby and fetch
others if needed.
7. A boy should pick up anything dropped by a girl
and offer her assistance whenever there is an oppor-
tunity.
8. Each child by act or word should show regard
for the desires, preferences and happiness of the
others.
9. All the children should be most careful to ac-
knowledge any courtesy extended with a " thank you."
10. They should never interrupt, or ask a question
of two people who are conversing, but wait till they
are finished.
11. They should also practise introducing one an-
other, using the simplest forms, for example:
A , do you know B ?
A , I want you to meet (or know) B .
A , I want to introduce B .
12. They should be sure to say good-by when leav-
ing and by way of parting, express their thanks, plea-
sure or appreciation.
The above are some of the common occurrences of
every day life and should not be left to untrained in-
80
Child Training
stinct or to an occasional chance direction, but should
be taught the child — by constant drill, if neces-
sary.
At the child's own meals he should of course be
drilled in proper table manners but if a light luncheon
is served to the group of children there is an added
opportunity to practise the child in table courtesies and
habits. The most important rules to have him ob-
serve are the following :
Wait for all to be seated.
Help others first.
Anticipate wants and pass food.
Eat and drink noiselessly and cleanly.
Chew thoroughly.
Eat without haste or greed.
CONVERSATION
The whole class should then form a single group
for conversation, or divide into two groups, if too
large for all to participate, in which the usual con-
versational rules should be strictly observed. Raising
of hands, as in school, should have no place what-
ever.
Conversation is one of the chief distinctive attributes
of human beings and from it perhaps more is learned
— language, ideas, information — than from all other
sources of knowledge put together.
go
Social Training
Topics of Conversation
Weather. The commonest of all topics of conversa-
tion, the weather, may well be the first subject of the
morning. To a child the subject is not banal as for an
adult, and it does promote observation and comparison
of the seasons, changes and meteorological conditions,
a knowledge of the calendar, etc. This subject, there-
fore, the teacher by general consent, should start, ask-
ing, first of all, the day of the week and later, when
taus:ht, of the month — then what the weather is and
the probabilities.
Timely Topics. After the weather, seasonable and
timely topics should be discussed. At the beginning of
the month the teacher should introduce into the conver-
sation a discussion of the characteristics of the season,
the holidays or festivals to be celebrated, the events
scheduled to take place, preparation to be made ( fore-
sight), etc. Each of these should again form the topic
of conversation as they occur, the teacher explaining
their significance or supplying the historic or legendary
information associated with their observance.
Generalities. After the weather and seasonable and
timely topics, which should always be the first order
of the day, the conversation should be general — of
personal happenings, news, observations, questions,
opinions, and this is the time for each pupil to contrib-
ute his one mite of interest or information sought for
91
Child Training
and prepared, as hereafter directed — under rule 4.
Here the teacher's part should be almost exclusively
that of a trainer — seeing to it that all the rules of
conversation are vigorously followed, but seldom
should she enter the conversation, except on equal terms
with the pupils.
Information. After such general topics the teacher
may give the information as planned in the chapter
on that subject, if after experiment it seems a better
arrangement than to devote a separate period to it.
Opinions. At the end of the Conversational Period
some time should be devoted daily to exacting opinions
in regard to the matters that have been touched upon.
This is an extremely valuable exercise, not only at this
period but at table and other times, as it forces the
lazy minded child into mental activity. It can be used
to advantage with children of all ages.
To exact opinions, ask each child in turn a question
requiring an expression of an opinion and then his
reason for holding it — such questions as :
"Which do you like?"
"How do you like it?"
"Why do you like it?"
It is extremely difficult at first to get any answer
to the " why " question other than " because," or " be-
cause I do," but the teacher should persist till the
child has hunted about in his mind and made an effort
to find the grounds for his opinion, for this is the ob-
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Social Training
ject of the question — to stir up thought, to overcome
mental inertia and to form a habit that will be of great
mental benefit.
Rules of Conversation.
The following are the most valuable conversational
habits to be acquired. Children who have been drilled
— and by drilled is meant habituated by daily practice
— to observe the canons of conversation, will be at a
tremendous advantage at the very start in their daily
intercourse. At home the general rule — " Children
should be seen and not heard " — and " Children should
speak only when spoken to " — and later merely cor-
rective injunctions as to what not to say, when not,
and how not, turn a child out into the world without
practice, without conversational habits and leave him
to learn his lesson by inadequate and often costly ex-
perience.
As a rule, the teacher should take no part in the
conversation unless she cannot help it. The chil-
dren should converse with each other — not with the
teacher. Her business is to stand ever ready and
watchful to correct, direct and show how — that is
all, but this oversight is very exacting, for it requires
the strictest attention to the remarks and attitude of
every child.
The teacher should be given the preference in con-
trolling the trend of the conversation, in having th#
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Child Training
first and last word, but the children should converse
among themselves. After the proper conversational
habits have been formed the teacher should even with-
draw from the group and busy herself about other
matters, or watch the children as an onlooker, though
remaining within ear shot, in case her presence should
be needed. Her business is to see that the children
observe the following rules and practise them till
they become habits.
1. Speak only when no one else is talking, never
break in when another is speaking.
2. Give others a chance, do not monopolize the con-
versation when once in hand, do not speak more than
once when others are anxious for an opportunity to
speak.
3. Eliminate the irrelevant or tedious and keep still
otherwise.
4. Say something when there is an awkward silence.
Get the silent ones into the conversation by a direct
question or appeal to them.
5. Pay attention to the remarks of others and con-
tinue them or answer them without contradiction.
6. Observe the proprieties in making remarks or
asking questions.
7. Be truthful.
8. Use courteous terms and manner of address.
These various conversational rules are so important
that it is well to consider some of them separately.
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Social Training
Any child is quick to see and appreciate the vahdity of
all the conversational rules and, of course, their reason
for being so should be explained — once — but it is
the habit forming drill, here, as everywhere else in this
training, that counts.
I. Speak only when no one else — in the same
group — is talking.
This is one of the hardest rules for an interested
child to observe and every one knows how com-
monly necessary it is for grown-ups to say, " You
shouldn't interrupt," "Don't you see I am talking?"
" Wait till I finish," and yet the fault remains univer-
sally unremedied because there is no drill on this spe-
cific point and the occasional corrections from parents
and teachers are not sufficient to form a habit. A
parent will say, " I 've told him a thousand times he
should n't break in, that it is the height of bad man-
ners." Yes, but the child has violated the rule a
thousand times with his own playmates and one more
than offsets the other, for it is the habit that must be
formed and the habit cannot be formed when he breaks
the rule once, at least, for every time he observes it.
Here again the first rule of habit forming must be
vigorously carried out. In all his intercourse he must
be watched and never allowed to violate the rule, no,
not once, without immediate correction — until the
habit is fixed.
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Child Training
If two start to speak at the same time or one inter-
rupts, thinking the other finished, he should, of course,
be taught to say, " I beg your pardon. What were
you going to say? " Such a display of good manners
will no doubt sound as unusual in children as it is com-
monplace with grown-ups, and yet it is only what
should be expected and is no mark of precocity — in-
deed, its lack is simply the result of neglected train-
ing.
2 and 3. Do not monopolize the conversation.
The garrulous young person is as bad as the old.
Childish prattle is all right in its place for it serves a
purpose — practice in language — but it is out of place
in general conversation and, therefore, at this period,
the prattler should be regularly and constantly sup-
pressed till he has acquired the habit of controlling
his babble.
4. Say something.
It is good practice for each child to bring in just
one item of interest or value each day to contribute to
the general fund. The gathering of a single worth
while or interesting thing should be a regular daily re-
quirement, a regular home preparation for the conver-
sational period.
The child accustomed to this requirement will be
habituated to going about on the lookout for interest-
ing and valuable subjects (the interest and value, of
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Social Training
course, will be comparative, only from the child's
point of view) and this attitude once formed will be a
most useful accomplishment, and the gradual accumu-
lation of conversational matter will prove an asset
that should stand him in good stead on other occasions.
It is said that the apparently inexhaustible fund of
original stories, of a man famous as a raconteur, was
gradually collected in this way, he having formed the
habit of looking each day for an incident or situation
that, with possibly some elaboration, he could tell as
an interesting story at his own home table.
5. Pay attention to the remarks of others.
The pupil should not only pay attention, he should
show that he is paying both attention and interest.
It is a general rule of the theater that every one on
the stage shall look at the speaker and show by his
expression or action that he is appreciating what is
said. " Eyes on the speaker " is an injunction that
should, however, be followed in spirit rather than too
literally. Children, when first endeavoring to observe
this rule, are apt to respond with military snap, turn-
ing the head towards the speaker with a jerk, as if
given the command " Eyes right," " Eyes left," at
first staring with exaggerated emphasis and then al-
lowing their attention to wander. Of course, it is
the courteous regard without distractions to other per-
sons or things in the room that is wanted. In the case
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Child Training
of a tete-a-tete, especially in receiving orders or an-
swering questions, " looking one squarely in the face "
is the mark not only of courtesy but frankness.
When the speaker has finished some question, reply
or comment is in order to show that his remark at least
has not been ignored. To change the subject abruptly
is lacking in due respect. If a child tells with delight
of the arrival of kittens at home, the next speaker
should not announce as a counter-interest that he is to
have a birthday party next week. Rather he should
ask how many kittens there are, what they are like —
before launching on the subject of his own affairs.
This may seem a difficult lesson for a child to learn,
but practice, not instruction, will make it second na-
ture.
6. Observe the proprieties in making remarks or
asking questions.
Children are very prone to " tell tales out of school,"
to mention personal or family affairs, that should be
confidential; to describe home economies or extrava-
gancies, family difficulties and even quarrels, to ask
questions that are inquisitive or even impertinent,
" How much did it cost? " or " What makes your eyes
so red ? "
7. Speak the truth.
Children are naturally liars in the sense that they
naturally make believe. They live in a story book
98
Social Training
world, a world of fiction and especially in conversa-
tion, in the effort to outdo another, they will frequently
offer the product of their imagination as verities. Do
not discourage their romancing but have them offer
their fairy tales as fairy tales, not as deceptions.
8. Be courteous in language and address.
If the child asks a question, his tone and manner
should be one expressing interest, not casual indiffer-
ence. If he answers a question, his tone and manner
should be courteous and cordial.
The child is apt to be abrupt, to call attention by
the monosyllabic, " Say," to contradict flatly, to omit
" please," to forget " thank you," to say, " yes " and
" no " to elders without adding the respectful
Miss or Mr. .
The child cannot be drilled too young to say —
"Yes, Miss Smith," "No, Mr. Jones;" "Yes,
father ; " " No, Uncle John." There is no surer mark
of good breeding — or the lack of it — than the invari-
able use or omission of such terms of respect after these
monosyllables. When, however, yes and no are used
repeatedly, or at frequent intervals in a conversation,
monotony should be avoided by change of expression,
" No indeed," " Yes, thank you," or omitted altogether,
for the sake of avoiding what might easily become
exasperating by too frequent repetition.
" Whispering in company " is most impolite.
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Child Training
SPEECH
The language, enunciation and intonation of a child
are formed almost entirely by example, by hearing and
use, by his daily practice rather than by precept and
rule. No occasion, therefore, is more important than
the conversational period for training him in correct
forms of speech, clear enunciation of the consonants,
especially the final, and proper intonation. He is too
young to be told why certain forms are grammatically
incorrect and such explanation would be superfluous,
but he should be corrected whenever he uses the wrong
form and be insistently drilled in the use of the proper
one.
Intonation
In the matter of intonation, the child should be told
to put spirit and life into his remarks rather than be
instructed in cut and dried or arbitrary tonal inflec-
tions — dropping or raising the voice or emphasizing
parts of sentences should not be taught by rule, but
be prompted unconsciously by the feeling behind the
remarks.
A monotonous delivery, either when speaking or
reciting, is the result of lack of spirit. Encourage
the child to put spirit into his speech, imitate, use ges-
tures, attitudes, facial expressions, exclamations, any-
thing that will give life and interest. It is a platitude
that a good story may be spoiled by a colorless, in-
lOO
Social Training
sipid recital and the poorest story made telling if in-
vested with vitality. It is not artificial, elocutionary
effects that are desired in the child, but a spontaneous
mirroring of the words in the tone of voice.
Enunciation
In the matter of enunciation, precision should be the
rule. The teacher should be particularly watchful to
see that the child does not elide final syllables and con-
sonants, such as: ing, ow, etc. He should say, play-
ing, not playin'; window, not winder; because, not
'cus; door not do' ; neither in the last instance should
the " r " be " burred " or rolled with unpleasant dis-
tinctness. " Git " for " get " is a common mispro-
nunciation in some sections. A before u, as in laugh
and aunt, and before 1, as in half, palm, calm, psalm,
etc., has no authority for any pronunciation but the
broad sound, pronounced as a in arm, though in many
parts of the country it is generally pronounced flat,
the same way as " a " before other consonants.
Voice
Nasal, harsh or unpleasant tonal quality should be
corrected wherever and whenever it occurs. There
is a general lack of regard for this matter, due to the
fact that most people are oblivious to the good and
bad or make no conscious distinction except in exag-
gerated cases.
lOI
Child Training
If the children close their eyes or listen to speakers
from another room, paying attention to the sounds
and not to what is said, they may become aware of the
varying qualities of speaking voices and the pleasing
and disagreeable characteristics.
Baby Talk
The mispronunciation of words, due to inability to
articulate or more usually to incorrect hearing, may
be amusing and delightful on account of its simple
naivete, but it should be corrected, and above all, should
not be imitated by the parent or teacher. " Oo " and
" 'ittle " may be cunning in a three year old, but it is
silly for a grown-up to use such expressions in ad-
dressing the three year old, like talking " pigeon "
English to a Chinaman, but what is worse, it gives an
incorrect model for the child, and thus prolongs the
time he will take to speak correctly. Precision in
the pronunciation of one's native tongue is always
delightful at any age and an ear-mark of the well
bred.
Stammering, Stuttering
Stammering and stuttering are merely bad habits
of speech caused either by mental or physical disorder.
Like all habits they are formed gradually and can be
most quickly corrected at the beginning. The parent
or teacher must therefore aim to form habits of de-
I03
Social Training
liberation and correct utterance to take the place of
the habit of stammering or stuttering and the follow-
ing- rules and drills should be found effective in form-
ing these good habits and eradicating the bad.
1. Remove the child from the companionship of
any one who stutters or stammers; the habit is conta-
gious and oftentimes merely the result of imitation.
2. Do not scold, punish nor ridicule the stammerer.
3. Tell him he must always stop and take a deep
breath before he starts to speak and always when
he starts to stammer and at short intervals while speak-
ing, so that he always speaks with the chest well filled.
4. When he starts to stammer, simply say,
"Wait!" until he forms the habit of stopping in-
stantly himself.
5. Drill the child in repeating the vowel sounds by
themselves, and in combination with consonants.
Thus, have him say, " a, a, a, ba, ba, ba, ca, ca, ca,
da, da, da," etc., and " e, e, e, be, be, be, ce, ce, ce,"
and so on, for two or three minutes on rising, before
retiring, and before meals.
6. Note the particular sounds or combination of
sounds with which he has difficulty and practise him in
saying such combination a given number of times as
a daily or more frequent exercise.
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Child Training
Lisping
In the case of lisping, practise the child in saying
syllables and words in which a lisp occurs till he is
able to pronounce such words without a trace of the
" th " sound.
104
, i-uui.v/tfrapu oy BacuracU
STORY TELLING
"The Story on a 'Willow' Plate" — Training the imagination
PART III
STORY TELLING
KIND OF STORIES
Story telling may be made a most powerful factor
in the child's educational development. To serve this
purpose, however, the stories selected must not be the
kind that merely entertain, they must have some educa-
tional point — such are :
Hero stories and those dealing with courage, truth
and other virtues — for forming character.
Fanciful tales — for stimulating the imagination,
giving a delight in the world and raising the prosy na-
ture above the literal, common sense, matter of fact,
banal.
Humorous and nonsense stories — for giving the
child the ability to get fun out of life and as an antidote
for the dreary attitude of over seriousness with which
some metallic natures without warmth or feeling are
affected and in whose serious scheme of education
there is no place for humor or nonsense.
The most useful and important stories are those
that inspire emulation of a model, or fire ambition,
as described in General Instructions.
But it is not necessary that a story should be with-
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Child Training
out human or animal villains to make it fit for a child
to hear. On the contrary, it is part of education's
business to make the child aware that there is evil as
Avell as good in the world and that both must be
reckoned with.
The stories next in importance are those that incite
the imagination. Fairy tales and fiction are the best
stories for training this quality, which Norton calls
" the supreme intellectual faculty." A child who is
only interested in real stories should be enticed into
liking fiction, for the former attitude is an evidence
of a prosy, matter of fact mind that is lacking in
imagination and needs the influence and training that
fairy tales can give.
Stories that describe horrors, bogies or anything
that might incite the fears of the child, or play un-
wholesomely upon his emotions — tales such as bad
nurses are reputed to tell, in order to intimidate or
scare the child into submission — should, of course, be
carefully avoided.
Likewise, tales that make wrong attractive should
not be told to children. Indeed, since any ideas,
whether good or bad, as already stated, tend to take
form in act, bad qualities should be mentioned,
if necessary for the sake of contrast, only with the
most extreme caution.
Common sense, however, should be exercised in cen-
soring and expurgating, for there is hardly a good
1 08
Story Telling
story in existence with which some fault could not be
found by the hypercritical, though the dangers are
usually only hypothetical or theoretical and not real.
The parent who objected to the song of " Three Blind
Mice," on the ground that it taught cruelty to animals
because the farmer's wife " cut off their tails with a
carving knife," is an example of the absurdities into
which such serious minded censorship may lead.
Informational stories — lessons masking under a
story form — are bad from every point of view.
Facts about nature, science, etc., are better and more
effectually taught in direct ways and the story form
should be reserved for the purposes it best serves. In-
formation spoils a story and the story form spoils in-
formation.
Bearing the above points in mind and regarding
them, the parent or teacher should be able to select
stories from a wide variety of sources, and it should
not be very difficult for her to invent stories that would
conform to the above principles and appeal to the
children. Many good stories are made up, sponta-
neously improvised for an occasion, or told extempore,
that would fall flat if put in print. For educational
purposes, therefore,
Stories should be :
Hero or moral
Fanciful or
Humorous, and
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Child Training
They should not be:
Informational, except incidentally
Deal with bogies, or
Make wrong attractive.
For the sake of holding the child's interest, stories
to be most successful, that is, best from the young
child's point of view, should have the following qual-
ities :
Action — something happening all the time
Mystery
Repetition — recurrence of a stock phrase
Fitting conclusion — " and they lived happily ever
afterwards." The story should be finished off and
completed and the child not be left in doubt as to what
was the final outcome.
METHOD OF TELLING
The story may be read to the child but it is better
for the parent to acquaint herself with the story and
then tell it as vividly as she is able, for a told story
is worth much more than one read. In telling a story
to a child the teller should enter into the spirit of the
story, telling it in dead earnest, as seriously as if she
beheved every word of it herself, displaying genuine
wonder, deep concern, and so on, but without affecta-
tion or exaggeration of manner. If she can do so
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Story Telling
simply and naturally, without effort, she may imitate
and mimic the characters in a story but she should tell
the story and not act it out — a form of mistaken
zeal which results in clumsy absurdities.
The teacher should have a new story for each day
and one new story a day is enough, if it is to make any
impression or serve any purpose other than entertain-
ment, but repeat an old one if, on asking the class, a
majority prefer it. A child may be allowed to tell an
old story and occasionally a new one or an original
one, as this affords excellent practice in the language
and dramatic arts. A few minutes should be allowed
for discussion on completion of the story, to ask ques-
tions, and to make comment and comparisons.
LIST OF STORIES AND STORY BOOKS
The following is a list of books that contain suitable
stories for children from four to six. Many of the
stories occur in several of the collections, as is to be ex-
pected, and unfortunately no collection is complete or
sufficient in itself, so that a teacher or parent should
possess one or more of the books, selecting them in
about their order in the list below :
Bible Stories
Forbidden Fruit Gen. iii, i-6
Expulsion from Eden Gen. iii, 12-24
Cain and Abel Gen. iv, 1-15
III
Child Training
The Flood Gen. vi, 13-22 ; vii ;
viii
Abraham and Isaac Gen. xxii, 1-18
Rebekah at Well Gen. xxiv
Esau and Jacob Gen. xxvii
Jacob's Ladder Gen. xxviii, 10-32
Joseph Sold Gen. xxxvii
Joseph Ruler Gen. xlii-xlv
Moses Found Ex. ii, i-io
Moses Before Pharaoh Ex. vii-xi
Passover Ex. xii, xiv
Balaam's Ass Num. xxii, 20-35
Samson and the Philistines Judges xvi, 13-31
Infant Samuel I Sam. iii
David and Goliath I Sam. xvii
Absalom II Sam. xviii, 4-33
Barrel of Meal and Cruse of Oil. .1 Kings xvii
Elijah and Fiery Chariot II Kings ii, 1-14
Job's Sorrows Job i, ii, xlii
Fiery Furnace Dan. iii, 8-30
Daniel in the Lions' Den Dan. vi, 1.6-28
Wise Men Matt, ii, 1-12
Christmas Luke ii, 1-21
Jesus Stills Storm Mark iv, 35-41
Jesus Heals Girl Mark v, 21-43
Rich Young Man Mark x, 17-23
Forgives Seventy Times Seven . . . Matt, xviii, 21-35
Good Samaritan Luke x, 30-37
Widow and Two Mites Mark xii, 41-44
Prodigal Son Luke xv, 1 1-32
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Story Telling
Boston Collection of Kindergarten Stories
Dora, The Little Girl of the Lighthouse
The Honest Woodman
The Three Bears
The Little Rooster
The Man on the Chimney
The Lion and the Mouse
The Three Gold Fishes
The Lost Lamb
The Hare and the Tortoise
Diamonds and Toads
North Wind and the Sun
The Echo
The Ugly Duckling
The Hen-Hawk
A Lesson of Faith
The Fox and the Grapes
Stories to Tell to Children
The Gingerbread Man
How Brother Rabbit Fooled the Whale and the Ele-
phant
The Story of Epaminondas and His Auntie
The Boy Who Cried " Wolf ! "
The Little Jackal and the Alligator
The Elves and the Shoemaker
The Brahmin, The Tiger, and The Jackal
The Talkative Tortoise
The Little Jackal and the Camel
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Child Training
Tell It Again Stories
Gretchen and The Magic Fiddle
The Princess and Her Golden Ball
Cinderella and the Glass Slipper
Arthur and the Sword
The Bell of Atri
The Birds of Killingworth
Kindergarten Story Book
Ludwig and Marleen
What Happened on the Road to Grandfather Good-
field's
Billy Bobtail
The Fairy Shoes
Picciola
How TO Tell Stories to Children
Ragg>'lug
The Pig Brother
The Pied Piper of Hamelin Town
Why the Evergreen Trees Keep Their Leaves in
Winter
114
Story Telling
LIST OF BOOKS WITH STORIES FOR CHILDREN
UNDER SCHOOL AGE
Bible
Grimm
For the Children's Hour Bailey and Lewis
Boston Collection of Kindergarten
Stories J. L. Hammett Co.
Stories to Tell to Children Bryant
Tell It Again Stories Dillingham and Em-
erson
Kindergarten Story Book Hoxie
How to Tell Stories to Children. . Bryant
Kindergarten Stories and Morning
Talks Wiltse
The Story Hour Wiggin and Smith
Fables and Folk Stories Scudder
Book of Fables Stickney
In the Child's World Poulsson
Five Minute Stories Laura E. Richards
More Five Minute Stories Laura E. Richards
The Fairy Ring Wiggin and Smith
Big Book of Nursery Rhymes Douglas Jerrold
Big Book of Fables Douglas Jerrold
"5
Vhototrraph 1>> Bachracli
PHYSICAL TRAINING
'Down, Up" — Developing the body
PART IV
PHYSICAL TRAINING
HEALTH REQUISITES
Every parent appreciates the superlative importance
of the slogan "Health First!" Without health
first, all the mental education and book learning in
the world are of little value. To be a good animal is
the fundamental requisite on which to build an educa-
tional superstructure. But it is far from sufficient, as
many parents think, merely to let the child " run wild "
out of doors, or to harden him by exposure. Rous-
seau even advocated sending the child out in leaky
shoes to accustom him to exposure, but such treatment
is too heroic for young children, especially at the pe-
riod of rapid growth between four and five as there
is risk of bringing on rheumatic endocarditis and other
chronic troubles.
On the other hand, strange to say, the children that
have the most care and attention often seem to be the
most prone to colds, digestive upsets and other dis-
orders. Even children that liave their daily fresh air
walk and out of door plays are often merely bundled
up sensitive plants, susceptible to every draft, raw
119
Child Training
wind, damp corner and change of temperature, to an
overlooked undergarment, muffler or overshoes.
But physical stamina and active health, the kind
that reacts and throws off, that is not affected by slight
changes of temperature or atmosphere, that is flexible,
elastic, rebounding, is not obtained by any hardening
process that consists simply of mere exposure to wind
and v^eather. Hardening should not be from the out-
side, but from the inside — by storing up physical en-
ergy and stamina in heart, lungs and muscle.
The most important things for the child's physical
well being are:
Plenty of fresh air. All night and during the
child's active day he should be in the open or practi-
cally so. His sedentary occupations may be indoors
— if any must be. Too often children are sent to
classes which are conducted out of doors with great
difficulty, inconvenience and handicaps for two or
three hours a day and then are kept indoors for the
remaining twenty-one hours, when they could much
more readily and with vastly greater benefit be kept
out the twenty-one and in the three hours.
Plenty of exercise, but not too much.
Plenty of sleep. A child from four to six years of
age should have twelve to thirteen hours sleep out of
the twenty- four.
Cold baths. A cold bath or sponge on rising helps
to ward off colds.
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Physical Training
Regular' meals. Between meal " snacks " are de-
structive to good health.
Mixed diet. Eggs, milk, cereals, meats, vegetables
and fruits. Sweets should be rarely permitted, pastry
avoided, and tea and coffee, pickles, vinegar, spice and
other condiments prohibited altogether.
Care of eyes. Near sightedness is now thought to
be largely the result of strain during the growing
period. During this period the outer envelope of the
eye ball is more or less soft and easily stretched by the
focusing muscles of the eye ball. Continued stretch-
ing results in a permanent strain, the effect being near
sightedness. Strain is brought about by too close or
too long application to fine work, or by using the eyes
in dim light or in glaring light. A child should not
be allowed to look at pictures or play or work with
fine materials at twilight, in a dark corner, in his own
shadow, or in the direct sunlight, or with the sunlight
reflected into the eyes from a bright surface.
Astigmatism is an irregularity in the curve of the
front of the eye, making objects seem blurred instead
of clear cut. It should be corrected by the use of
glasses at least during the child's growing period, as
without glasses there is a strain in the attempt to focus
more clearly and near sightedness results. After the
growing period when near sightedness is no longer to
be feared, the glasses may then be laid aside, if the as-
tigmatism is not too great.
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Child Training
Eyes should not be rubbed. When there is any-
thing in the eye pull upper lid down over lower and
blow nose.
Care of teeth. Tests have shown that the condi-
tion of the teeth has a marked effect on both the men-
tality and the state of health of school children. Put-
ting the teeth in good condition and maintaining them
so more than doubled the mental efficiency of those
tested.
The " milk teeth," the child's first teeth, should be
kept in as long as possible; this makes the permanent
teeth more regular and the shape of the mouth and
jaws more perfect.
At the age of two the use of a soft tooth brush
should be begun.
The teeth should be cleaned up and down — not
across — with brush, using tooth paste at night and
antiseptic wash in the morning.
Teeth should not be picked with pins or anything
metallic or hard, dental floss is best; nor should one
crack nuts or bite off thread or eat anything very sour
or very hot.
If there are any irregularities in the growth of the
teeth they should be promptly corrected by a dentist.
Between six and twelve, during which period the per-
manent teeth appear, the jaw is quite plastic and ir-
regularities may readily be corrected.
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Physical Training
TABLE OF GROWTH
Measure and weigh your children in the autumn and
six months after in the spring, keep the record and
compare with the following figures, which are estimated
from various incomplete sources but are approximate.
Girls measure slightly less than figures given below.
Age
Height
Weight
1 Age
Height
Weight
At birth
21 in. 1
7 lbs.
1 4
38 in.
38 lbs.
I
29 m.
20 lbs.
1 5
40 in.
42 lbs.
2
33 in-
26 lbs.
1 6
43 in.
46 lbs.
3
36 in.
32 lbs.
1 7
45 in.
50 lbs.
Summer is the growing season for children, as well
as for plants and accordingly, a greater proportionate
growth will show for the summer than for the winter.
A child from four to seven years of age increases
about 2 inches in height, and 4 pounds in weight
each year, chiefly during the summer.
EXERCISES
Exercises adapted and developed from the child's
own play interests are more effective than those that
have been devised with the special purpose of exercis-
ing certain muscles without consulting the child's likes
or dislikes. What is done with the heart in it, with
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Child Training
the game spirit, prompted by nature, is done much
more efficiently and with vastly less fatigue than what
is imposed and arbitrarily exacted without consulting
nature.
But there is a certain class of exercises — specific
drills for developing certain traits or correcting mal-
tendencies, that may best be given directly. Free
play will provide much of the physical training neces-
sary, but in order to make sure that the development is
well rounded and properly balanced, that no part is neg-
lected or slurred, free play should be supplemented by
certain systematic drills. Neither rhythmic move-
ments, dancing nor romping will as effectually serve
the purpose of strengthening weak muscles or correct-
ing physical deficiencies. Most children are round-
shouldered, knock-kneed, stand, sit and walk incor-
rectly, and are in need of abstract calisthenics that
will form correct habits of posture, make them handle
themselves properly and develop each member of the
body so that it may perform adequately its proper
functions.
These exercises should be short as they are to the
point and they should precede the recreative free play
— those exercises that are disguised under some play
interest. The teacher should be cautious not to overdo
these exercises, or carry them to the point of fatigue
— a little goes a long way.
Teach the children all of these various exercises
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Physical Training
and drills and put them through a part or all of them
each day, depending on the child, whether he can stand
the whole sequence without fatigue or not.
With these exercises there is no object in introduc-
ing novel or greatly varied drills from time to time.
The point lies in their regular execution, day in and
day out, month after month without fail.
The teacher or parent should bear in mind that the
object of these exercises is not to increase muscular
power beyond what is normal for the child's age, but
to form correct habits of carriage and posture, correct
any maltendencies and maintain an even, all around
development consistent with the child's growth.
Erect carriage in children is absolutely essential to
correct growth and proper development. The upright
position is characteristic of the human race and of
health and efficiency. Incorrect carriage invites all
sorts of pulmonary troubles. The mentally deficient
and sub-normal have a characteristically defective
posture.
For the sake of both health and appearance the up-
right position described below should be cultivated. It
is hardly to be expected that the rigidly erect position
will be, or can be, maintained indefinitely, but con-
stant practice in assuming this position and holding
it throughout formal drills, recitations and on similar
occasions will not only form the habit of holding one-
self correctly but develop the muscles to bring about
125
Child Training
this habitual mihtary erectness that is so noticeable
among army men of all nations, not only on dress
parade but at all times.
EXERCISE I
Sitting Postures.
Give the command,
"Upright." At the command, have each child
while sitting take an erect position, the head and chin
drawn back, the points of the shoulders turned back,
the spine away from the chair, the chest forward, the
stomach drawn in, the hands resting in the lap, the feet
on the floor.
Give the command,
" At Ease." At the command, have each child
first sit back as far as possible in his chair, then relax
his body somewhat; crossing his feet or knees and
resting his hands naturally and comfortably.
EXERCISE 2
Standing Positions.
Give the command,
" Stand Upright." At the command, have each
child stand with a lean slightly forward from the
heels so as to throw the weight of the body on the balls
of the feet, the knees and heels touching or slightly
apart and the feet pointing nearly straight ahead, the
hands hanging by the side with palms to the body, the
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Physical Training
head, chin, chest, shoulders and stomach in the same
position as for sitting.
" Toeing out " which used to be demanded, invites
flat foot and broken arches. " Indian footed," that
is with feet pointed nearly straight ahead is the only
position in which the arches of the feet can stand the
most strain and fatigue from walking, running or
standing. (See illustration facing page 3 for correct
position of feet.)
The natural curves of the head, neck, back and legs
should follow in general a straight line axis from head
to heel when viewed from the side, not quite a ver-
tical one but one tilted slightly forward so that the
center of gravity of the body will come squarely over
the center of its support — the feet. Test the child on
this position by giving him a sudden, unexpected touch
from in front — not a push but merely a touch with a
finger. If he loses his equilibrium he has not been
standing with his body swung forward enough. He
must be careful, however, not to bend forward from
the waist or neck — the general direction of the back
line should be straight, from head to heel, not bent.
Of course, by a "straight back" is not meant a
straight line back. The hollow or incurve above the
hips known as the small of the back should be main-
tained, but at the same time it should not be exagger-
ated. The usual tendency for a child when told to
stand erect is to throw back the shoulders and at the
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Child Training
same time throw forward the stomach. This should
not be.
To test the proper position of the shoulders run the
hand over the child's back. It should feel flat and free
from the projections or wings which the shoulder
blades make when the points of the shoulders are not
held back. A person is called " round shouldered "
when the shoulder points droop forward, and the
blades stick out in back as a consequence.
As fully half of a child's time at this age is spent in
bed, correct or incorrect posture is in a great degree
influenced by his manner of sleeping.
It is natural for a child of this age to sleep flat on
his stomach with his face turned either to the right or
left, or else flat on his back. In either case no pillow
should be used, as it would distort the head. If, how-
ever, the child sleeps habitually on the side, it is just
as imperative that he should have a pillow to fill the
space made between shoulder and head, to prevent
distortion and strain on the neck glands and muscles.
Give the command,
" At Ease." At the command have each child re-
lax the position of attention somewhat and rest the
weight of the body on either leg, one of which may be
advanced to the front or placed to the side. One or
both hands may be put behind the back, on the hips
or in belt but not in pockets. The latter position is
objectionable as it throws the shoulders forward.
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Physical Training
The position " at ease " is permissible only in in-
formal situations and occasions but even then should
not become a slouch. On all formal occasions, how-
ever, as when addressing an older person or when re-
spect or courtesy is to be shown, all careless positions
and especially lounging postures — leaning against a
door or wall, a table, a chair — are discourteous. At
the same time the posture should be free from the
butler-like stiffness or regularity that is a mark of
servility.
Repeat the commands, " Upright " and " At Ease,"
and practise children in assuming and losing the
upright position till it can be taken properly and at
will.
EXERCISE 3
CaUsthenic Drills. Each of these drills should be
done from six to a dozen times, but not overdone.
Over-exercise may cause heart dilatation and fatigue
is dangerous.
The correct upright position already described is the
first and absolute essential if the exercises are to have
the effect intended.
Between each drill have the child take three or four
long, deep breaths.
Drill I. Swing Arms Front to Back. This is for
the chest and shoulders. Give the command,
" Ready " and have the children imitating you, or a
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Child Training
child appointed leader, stretch hands to the front with
palms touching. Count,
" I, 2 ; 3, 4; " and so on up to 6 or more, and have
children keeping time with the count, carry extended
arms back horizontally as far as possible, while rising
at same time on toes, then clap hands in front.
Drill 2. Bend Forward. This is for the trunk
muscles. Give the command,
" Ready," and have the children place hands on hips,
thumbs back, elbows back. Count,
" I, 2 ; 3, 4; " and so on up to 6 or more and have
the children keeping time with the count bend at the
hips, and not at the waist, as far forward as possible
and then back.
Be careful to have them keep head in alignment
with body — not pitch it forward, nor cave in chest.
Drill 3. Bend Side to Side. Have the children do
similar exercise to right and left side alternately,
Drill 4. Touch Ground iinth Hands. This is for
the back. Give the command,
" Ready," and have the children take the position
with hands held up over head as high as they can
reach.
Say,
" Down, Up," and have the children suiting the ac-
tion to the word sweep their hands down towards
ground, bending at hips, but not bending the legs,
and then return to first position.
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Physical Training
Drill 5. Squat. This for the legs and balance of
body. Give the command,
" Ready," and have the children take position with
hands on hips, thumbs back. Say,
" Down," " Up," and have the children lower trunk
vertically, bending at knees and then rise to first posi-
tion.
Drill 6. Down, Up and Twist. This is for the
whole trunk. Give the command,
" Ready," and have the children take position with
feet spread apart and with both arms extended di-
rectly to front and hands clasped.
Say,
" Down," " Up," and have the children, suiting the
action to the word, swing their clasped hands down
between their legs, then up with a twist round to the
right. Then with a twist back to the front, have them
swing down and up again, with a twist round to the
left.
Drill 7. Flap. This is for the lungs, heart and a
variety of muscles. Give the command,
" Ready," and have the children take " Upright "
position. Count,
" I' 2; 3, 4;" etc., and have the children, keeping
time with the count, jump to a position with both feet
spread far apart, at the same time swinging both arms
sidewise directly overhead, then jump back to first
position and repeat.
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Child Training
Drill 8. Breathe Deep and Long. Breathing ex
ercises. Give the command,
" Stretch," and have the children slowly raise arms
sidewise over head and draw in breath through nose
while doing so, then as slowly exhale. Repeat three
or four times. A child who has difficulty in breathing
through nose should be examined for adenoid growths.
EXERCISE 4
Walking. Have the children practise walking in
single file, preferably to music. They should keep step,
the left foot keeping time with the musical accent. At
first, however, it will be sufficient to see that they step
in rhythm with the music without regard to which
foot is first. Beat time on a drum or have them clap
their hands with each and every foot-fall until they are
able to keep step with the beat and with a fair degree
of precision. Then they should clap on every other
foot-fall — the left. A ribbon tied round the right
arms of the children who do not know their left from
their right or are uncertain or hesitating will help to
teach them these fundamental positions, but the rib-
bon should always be used to identify the same side,
the right. It should not be used to mark the right
one time and the accented foot the next.
The leaders — those selected for their ability to keep
both the time and the step — may be given a drum,
an orchestral triangle or a clapper, which they maj
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Physical Training
sound as they march, in imitation of a street parade
led by a band.
As the children become expert in keeping step with
the music, change the time from 2-4 to 3-4 and when
they are practised in keeping step to this with a long,
swinging gait, alternate 2-4 and 3-4 time and drill them
till they can and will instantly change their step with
the changed time without oral direction. This requires
considerable training of the rhythmic sense and makes
strong demand on the attention but adds much interest
and zest to the exercise, especially if the time is
changed abruptly and unexpectedly after a few meas-
ures and then again after a longer interval, so that
the game spirit is injected into the march and the chil-
dren are kept on the alert not to be caught out of
step by any sudden change.
As the children march, correct their manner of step-
ping and holding themselves. They should, of course,
hold themselves erect, swing their arms naturally,
parallel to the body, with thumbs to the front. They
should not swing them across the body in front like
a swaggerer, nor behind like a prim ; they should tread
firmly, neither tip-toeing nor heeling, not heavily with
a jar at each step but with elasticity and spring.
Have them circle the room single file, then march
down the center. Have them keep directly behind
each other and at arm's length distance from the one
in front, not by measuring with the arm extended, but
^33
Child Training
gaging the distance with the eye. This is an im-
portant detail not only for appearance sake but for at-
tention and control. On reaching the end of the room
have them separate, the first child going to the right
and the next to the left, and so on alternately. The
two lines thus formed should continue down the sides
of the room till they meet at the other end; they
should then march down the center two and two, and
the alternate pairs should separate to right and left at
the end of the room and so on, till four or eight pupils
march abreast. Then reverse the process, the fours
separating into pairs and the pairs into individuals,
till the original single marching order is reached.
Other marching orders may be readily devised.
EXERCISE 5
This is a Variation of the Walking Drill. With
the children marching in single file, give order,
" Hands on hips." Have children place their hands
in this position and continue march. Then give order,
" Hands behind head." Have children clasp hands
behind head with elbows pressed as far back as pos-
sible. Then give order,
" Tip-toe." Have the children tread only on the
balls of the feet, the heels not touching. Then give
order,
" Skip." Have the children skip. Be careful to
have them skip on their toes not on their heels and
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Physical Training
when raising each foot to have the toe not the heel
pointed downward. Have them skip also in couples,
holding each other by the hand. Then give order,
" Run." In running the children should always
tread on the balls of the feet, never allowing the heel
to touch, and swing the arms bent at the elbow, alter-
nately across the chest.
EXERCISE 6
Obstacle Race. Arrange in a circular or S shaped
line around the room the following objects, in about
the order indicated and from five to ten feet apart.
A chair,
An Indian club or ten-pin.
Three or four small chairs a foot apart, — the in-
terval to be gradually widened,
A kindergarten table,
A drum, held by teacher at height of child's head,
A jumping rope suspended between two chairs,
A bell suspended a foot or more above a child's
head,
A spring board tied down to two chairs which sup-
port it at either end,
A rail,
A hoop held by pupil,
A kindergarten table.
Then have children start and step on to chair and
down again, hop over Indian club or ten-pin, without
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Child Training
knocking it down, step from chair to chair arranged
at wider and wider intervals Hke stepping stones, or
from circle to circle chalked on the floor or ground,
crawl under table, kick drum held by the teacher in
mid-air, being ordered to do so first with right foot
then on next time round with left, hurdle on the run
the jumping rope, tap in passing the bell held high,
jump on to the spring board and off, walk the rail, walk
crouching through hoop, vault table or fence, pick up
book or other object from floor and put it on the
table.
EXERCISE 7
Jumping Rope. Have the children jump rope, first
running through without letting it touch, then jumping
once and running out, then twice and so on. All such
exercises involving hopping or jumping on orue or both
feet, should be done on the toes to avoid jar and
awkwardnfess. This is an excellent exercise for the
lungs, back, legs, ankles and toes, for rhythmic move-
ment, poise and grace.
For children of this age, however. It should be only
moderately indulged in, as it is apt to be overdone and
thus become a strain on the heart.
EXERCISE 8
Tug of War. Appoint a leader for each side. Each
leader takes hold of an end of a rope and chooses in
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Physical Training
turn, one child at a time, to take hold of the rope on
his side. A line is then made on the ground at the
center of the rope and at a signal from the teacher, the
two sides pull against each other till one side succeeds
in pulling the last man — the leader — of the other side
over the line that has been made.
^37
rhotograpti by Bachracli
RHYTHMIC ARTS
"FolV Dancing" — Giving grace, poise, rhythmic sense
PART V
RHYTHMIC ARTS
The Rhythmic Arts inchide rimes, songs, singing
games and dances. They supply the most effective
means of advancing the child's esthetic life.
The rimes are classics as are also the singing games
and folk dances, but the best child's songs, with one
or two exceptions, are modern.
RIMES
The following nursery rimes are most suitable for
a child to hear and to learn. Elocutionary effects that
are not prompted from the inner spirit of the child are
usually strained and often absurd and should neither
be encouraged nor allowed.
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man.
So I will, master, as fast as I can.
Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T,
And put in the oven for Tommy and me.
Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep.
And can't tell where to find them ;
Leave them alone, and they '11 come home,
And bring their tails behind them.
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Child Training
Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep,
And dreamt she heard them bleating;
But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
For still they all were fleeting.
Then up she took her little crook,
Determined for to find them ;
She found them, indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
For they 'd left their tails behind them.
Ba-a, ba-a, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, marry, have I, three bags full;
One for my master, one for his dame,
And one for the little boy that lives in the lane.
Little Miss Mufifett
Sat on a tufifett,
Eating her curds and whey ;
Thene came a black spider,
And sat down beside her.
Which frightened Miss Mufifett away.
Daffy-down-dilly has come up to town,
In a yellow petticoat and a green gown.
Hey, diddle, diddle, l_^
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laugh'd
To see such craft.
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
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Rhythmic Arts
Bye, baby Bunting,
Father 's gone a-hunting,
Gone to get a rabbit skin
To wrap the baby Bunting in.
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner.
Eating his Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum.
And said, " What a good boy am I ! "
Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn.
The sheep 's in the meadow, the cow 's in the corn ;
What ! is this the way you mind your sheep.
Under the hay-cock, fast asleep?
I had a little pony,
His name was Dapple-gray,
I lent him to a lady.
To ride a mile away ;
She whipp'd him, she slash'd him,
She rode him through the mire;
I would not lend my pony now
For all the lady's hire.
Pussy cat, pussy cat,
Where have you been?
I 've been to London,
To visit the queen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat,
What did you there?
I frightened a little mouse
Under her chair.
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Child Training
Some little mice sat in a barn to spin,
Pussy came by and popped her head in ;
" Shall I come in and cut your threads off ? "
" O ! no, kind ma'am, you will snap our heads off ! "
Tom he was a piper's son,
He learnt to play when he was young,
But all the tune that he could play,
Was " Over the hills and far away."
Little Tom Tucker
Sings for his supper.
What shall he eat?
White bread and butter.
How will he cut it.
Without e'er a knife?
How will he be married.
Without e'er a wife?
Simple Simon met a pieman
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
" Pray let me taste your ware."
Jack and Jill went up the hill, ._
To fetch a pail of water ;
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after,
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Rhythmic Arts
Mary, Mary quite contrary
How does your garden grow ?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.
Curly locks ! curly locks ! wilt thou be mine ?
Thou shalt not wash dishes, nor yet feed the swine.
But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam,
And feed upon strawberries, sugar and cream!
OM King Cole
Was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he ;
He called for his pipe.
And he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Every fiddler, he had a fine fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he ;
Twee tweedle dee, tweedle dee, went the fiddlers.
O, there 's none so rare.
As can compare
With King Cole and his fiddlers three!
I '11 tell you a story
About Mother Morey,
And now my story 's begun,
I '11 tell you another
About her brother.
And now my story 's done.
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Child Training
The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown ;
The lion beat the unicorn
All about the town.
Some gave them white bread,
And some gave them brown,
Some gave them plum-cake,
And sent them out of town.
Three wise men of Gotham _^
Went to sea in a bowl ;
If the bowl had been stronger,
My song had been longer.
There was a man in our town.
And he was wondrous wise ;
He jumped into a bramble bush,
And scratched out both his eyes.
And when he saw his eyes were out.
With all his might and main
He jumped into another bush,
And scratched them in again.
The man in the moon.
Came down too soon.
To ask the way to Norwich ;
He went by the south,
And burnt his mouth,
With eating cold pease-porridge.
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Rhythmic Arts
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one.
And down he run,
Hickory, dickory, dock.
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she did n't know what to do ;
She gave them some broth without any bread.
She whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.
One misty, moisty morning,
When cloudy was the weather,
I chanced to meet an old man clothed all in leather,
H"e began to compliment, and I began to grin,
How do you do ? and how do you do ?
And how do you do again ?
If all the world were apple-pie,
And all the sea were ink.
And all the trees were bread and cheese,
What should we have to drink?
Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
His wife could eat no lean,
And so between them both
They licked the platter clean.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers ;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked ;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
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Child Training
Where are the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper
picked ?
Ding, dong, bell !
Pussy 's in the well.
Who put her in ?
Little Tommy Green,
Who pulled her out?
Great Johnny Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To drown poor pussy-cat.
Who never did him any harm,
But killed the mice in his father's barn !
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was open'd
The birds began to sing;
Was not that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting-house
Counting out his money ;
The queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey;
The maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes ;
There came a Httle blackbird
And snapt off her nose.
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Rhythmic Arts
Little fishey in a brook
Daddy catch him with a hook,
Mama fry him in a pan,
Baby eat him Hke a man.
Hush a bye baby
Upon the tree top,
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks
The cradle will fall,
Down tumbles baby,
Bough, cradle, and all.
This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt,
th-at lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat,
that ate the malt,
that lay in the house
that Jack built.
This is the cat,
that chased the rat,
that ate the malt,
that lay in the house
that Jack built.
This is the dog,
that worried the cat,
that chased the rat,
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Child Training
that ate the malt,
that lay in the house
that Jack built.
This is the cow
with crumpled horn,
that tossed the dog,
that worried the cat,
that chased the rat,
that ate the malt,
that lay in the house
that Jack built.
This is the maiden
all forlorn,
that milked the cow
with crumpled horn,
that tossed the dog,
that worried the cat,
that chased the rat,
that ate the malt,
that lay in the house
that Jack built.
This is the youth
all tattered and torn,
that kissed the maiden
all forlorn,
that milked the cow
with crumpled horn,
that tossed the dog,
that worried the cat,
that chased the rat.
Rhythmic Arts
that ate the malt,
that lay in the house
that Jack built.
This is the priest
all shaven and shorn,
that married the youth
all tattered and torn,
that kissed the maiden
all forlorn,
that milked the cow
with crumpled horn,
that tossed the dog,
that worried the cat,
that chased the rat,
that ate the malt,
that lay in the house
that Jack built.
This is the cock
that crowed in the morn,
to wake the priest
all shaven and shorn,
that married the youth
all tattered and torn,
that kissed the maiden
all forlorn,
that milked the cow
with crumpled horn,
that tossed the dog-,
that worried the cat,
that chased the rat,
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Child Training
that ate the malt,
that lay in the house
that Jack built.
There was a crooked man,
And he went a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence
Against a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat,
Which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived togetlier
In a little crooked house.
The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow.
And what will the robin do then?
Poor thing!
He '11 sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm.
And hide his head under his wing,
Poor thing!
Ride a cock-horse to Banbury-cross,
To see an old lady upon a white horse,
With rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes.
She shall make music wherever she goes.
Pease porridge hot.
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot,
Nine days old;
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Rhythmic Arts
Some like it hot,
Some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot.
Nine days old.
One, two.
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four.
Shut the door;
Five, six.
Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight;
Nine, ten,
A good fat hen ;
Eleven, twelve,
A man must delve.
Bow, wow, wow.
Whose dog art thou?
Little Tom Tinker's dog,
Bow, wow, wow.
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives;
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats.
Every cat had seven kits ;
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St, Ives?
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Child Training
Early to bed and early to rise
Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
April showers
Make May flowers.
There was an old woman toss'd up in a basket
Nineteen times as high as the moon ;
But where she was going, I could n't but ask it,
For in her hand she carried a broom.
" Old woman, old woman, old woman," quoth I,
" O whither, O whither, O whither, so high ? "
" To brush the cobwebs off the sky ! "
" Shall I go with thee? " " Aye, by and by."
Who killed Cock Robin?
" I," said the Sparrow,
" With my bow and arrow ;
I killed Cock Robin."
Who saw him die?
" I," said the Fly,
"With my little eye;
I saw him die."
Who caught his blood ?
" I," said the Fish,
"• With my little dish ;
I caught his blood."
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Rhythmic Arts
Who made his shroud?
" I," said the Beetle,
"With my little needle;
I made his shroud."
Who '11 be the parson ?
" I," said the Rook ;
" With my little book ;
I '11 be the parson."
Who '11 dig his grave ?
" I," said the Owl,
" With my spade and shovel ;
I '11 dig his grave."
Who '11 be the clerk?
" I," said the Lark,
"If 't is not in the dark;
I '11 be the clerk."
Who '11 carry him to the grave ?
" I," said the Kite,
"If 't is not in the night ;
I '11 carry him to the grave."
Who '11 be the chief mourner ?
" I," said the Dove,
" Because of my love ;
I '11 be chief mourner."
Who '11 sing a psalm ?
*' I," said the Thrush,
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Child Training
As she sat in a bush ;
*' I '11 sing a psalm."
" Who '11 bear the pall,"
" We," said the Wren,
Both the Cock and the Hen;
" We '11 bear the pall."
"Who'll toll the bell?
" I," said the Bull,
" Because I can pull."
So Cock Robin farewell.
All the birds of the air
Fell to sighing and sobbing
When they heard the bell toll
For poor Cock Robin.
Three children sliding on the ice.
Upon a summer's day ;
As it fell out, they all fell in,
The rest they ran away.
Now had these children been at home.
Or sliding on dry ground.
Ten thousand pounds to one penny,
They had not all been drown'd.
You parents all that children have.
And you that have got none,
If you would keep them safe abroad.
Pray keep them safe at home.
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Rhythmic Arts
What are little boys made of, made of;
What are Httle boys made of?
" Snaps and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails ;
And that 's what little boys are made of, made of."
What are little girls made of, made of ;
What are little girls made of?
" Sugar and spice, and all that 's nice ;
And that 's what little girls are made of, made of."
Goosey, goosey, gander.
Where shall I wander?
Upstairs, downstairs,
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
That would not say his prayers :
I took him by the left leg.
And threw him downstairs.
The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts.
All on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts,
He stole those tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he 'd steal no more.
Child Training
Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on Wednesday, get a letter;
Sneeze on Thursday, something better;
Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow ;
Sneeze on Saturday, joy to-morrow.
If wishes were horses,
Beggars would ride ;
If turnips were watches,
I 'd wear one by my side.
Solomon Grundy,
Born on Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy.
Peter White will ne'er go right,
Would you know the reason why?
He follows his nose where'er he goes,
And that stands all awry.
If all the seas were one sea,
What a great sea that would be !
And if all the trees were one tree,
What a great tree that would be !
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Rhythmic Arts
And if all the axes were one axe,
What a great axe that would be 1
And if all the men were one man,
What a great man he would be !
And if the great man took the great axe,
And cut down the great tree,
And let it fall into the great sea,
What a splish splash that would be!
There was a little man,
And he had a little gun.
And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead;
He went to the brook
And he saw a Httle duck.
And he shot it right through the head, head, head.
He carried it home
To his old wife Joan,
And bid her a fire for to make, make, make ;
To roast the Httle duck
He had shot in the brook.
And he 'd go and fetch her the drake, drake, drake.
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost ;
For want of the shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of the horse, the rider was lost;
For want of the rider, the battle was lost;
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost;
And all from the want of a horseshoe nail.
For every evil under the sun.
There is a remedy, or there is none.
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Child Training
If there be one, try and find it;
If there be none, never mind it.
SONGS
The following songs have been found to be the ones
most appreciated by children of four to six and best
suited to them. They should, of course, be taught by
rote, the children learning to sing them after the
teacher. Action Songs — those that are illustrated
by motion and gesture — are most delighted in.
From " Songs of a Little Child's Day," by Emilie Pouls-
son and Eleanor Smith
Brave
Useful
Polite
Morning Hymn
Sunshine Far and Near
Good Weather
The Bold Snowman
To a Snowflake
The Autumn Wind
The Busy Wind
The First Bouquet
Choosing a Flower
The Cackling Hen
The Lordly Cock
Minding Their Mother
Bossy Cow
Milk for Supper
The Shell
t6o
Rhythmic Arts
Whirlabout
Play in all Seasons
A Little Dancing Song
The Train
If You were a Flower
The Friendly Dark
From " The Most Popular Mother Goose Songs and
Other Nursery Rhymes,"
By Carrie Bullard
Little Bo-Peep
When the Snow is on the Ground
The King of France
Georgie Porgie
Hey, Diddle, Diddle
Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross
Twinkle, Little Star
Bean Porridge Hot
From " Robert Louis Stevenson Songs," by Ethel
Crowninshield
Singing
The Land of Counterpane
Marching Song
My Shadow
Time to Rise
The Lamplighter
Picture Books in Winter
My Treasures
Block City
i6i
Child Training
From " Songs of Happiness," by C. S. Bailey and M. B.
Ehrmann
Good Morning
The Baker
Content, etc.
From "The Modern Music Series," First Book. By
Eleanor Smith
Marching Song — Bring the Comb
Little Baby Do You Hear
Good Night to the Flowers
Other good books of songs for very young children
are
Mother Goose Songs for Little Ones, by Ethel
Crowninshield.
More Mother Goose Songs, by Ethel Crownin-
shield.
Folk Songs and Other Songs for Children, by J.
B. Radcliffe- Whitehead.
Songs of the Child-World, by A. C. D. Riley and
Jessie L. Gaynor. Books I and H.
SINGING GAMES
Singing games are as old as childhood. They break
out sporadically wherever children gather together.
The old traditional games have been handed down
from one childish generation to another without ap-
parently any teaching or suggestion from grown-ups.
Sorry is the child whose lot has been so cast that he
162
Rhythmic Arts
has grown up without ever having passed through
those halcyon hours that were spent playing " Farmer
in the Dell," " King William," or " London Bridge."
The most popular and suitable games of this kind
for children are described with words and music in
" Children's Old and New Singing Games," by Mari R.
Hofer, and some of them also in *' The Most Popular
Mother Goose Songs, etc.," by Carrie Bullard.
They are :
Farmer in the Dell
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
In the Spring
King William
Looby Loo
London Bridge
The Musician
The Needle's Eye
Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley
The Shepherdess
Character Dance
Punchinello
Round and Round the Village
FOLK DANCES
The Folk Dances best adapted to teaching children
are described with music by Burchenal, and there are
graphophone records of the music of most of them.
Klappdans Swedish Folk Dance
Bleking Swedish Folk Dance
163
Child Training
Tarantella Italian Folk Dance
The Ace of Diamonds Danish Folk Dance
Fjallnaspolska — Mountain Polka . Swedish Folk Dance
Morriss Dance English Folk Dance
Hansel and Gretel German Folk Dance
Shoemaker's Dance Danish Folk Dance
164
Rhythmic Arts
HEY, DIDDLE DIDDLE.*
. Allegro. J. W. Elliott.
Hey, did-dle, did-dle, The cat and the fid - die, The cow jump'd o-ver the moon ;
^!^gipg^4j^^5^^^^^r?r^S
The lit - tie dog laughed to see such sport, And the dish ran af - ter the spoon.
LITTLE BO-PEEP.*
Lit- tie Bo-Peep, she lost her sheep, And did-n't know where to find them;
2. Lit- tie Bo-Peep fell fast a-sleep, And dreamt she heard them bleat-ing ; But
3. Then up she took her lit - tie crook, De - ter - mined for to find them, She
happened one day as Bo-Peep did stray In - to a meadow hard by,. .. .
heaved a sigh and wiped her eye, Then went o'er hill and dale,.... And
Let them a- lone, they'll all come home. And bring their tails be-hind them,
when she a-woke, she found it a j<-)ke. For they were still a - fleet- ing.
found them indeed,but it made her heart bleed For they'd left their tails behind them. 4. It
There she es-pied their tails side by side. All hung on a tree to dry. 5. She
tried what she could, as a shepherdess should, To tack to each sheep its tail ....
Jane Taylor
Not too slow.
TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR.*
French Air.
Twin -kle, twin -kle, lit - tie star: How I won-der what you are,
2. Wlien the blaz - ing sun is gone, When he noth - ing shines up on,
3. Then the trav - 'ler in the dark Thanks you for your ti - ny spark;
4. In the dark blue sky you keep. While you thro' my win - dow peep.
Up a - bove the world so high. Like a dia-mond in the sky!
Then you show your lit -tie light, Twi- light, twin- kle all the night.
He could not see which way to go, If you did not twin -kle so.
And you uev - er shut your eye, Till the sun is in the sky.
Twin -kle, twin -kle, lit- tie star. How I won-der what you are.
165
Child Training
FARMER m THE DELL.*
High oh the der - ry
2 The fanner takes a wife,
3 The wife takes a child,
4 The child takes the nurse,
5 The nurse takes the dog,
oh
The farm - er in the dell.
6 The dog takes the cat,
7 The cat takes the rat,
8 The rat takes the cheese,
g The cheese stands alone.
Directions.— One^ child, the farmer, stands in the center of circle, and at the smging
of first verse, chooses another, " the wife," from the circle ; this one, in turn, chooses
the next, and so on untU the "cheese" is clapped out, and must begm agam as the
farmer.
HERE WE 60 ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH.*
mul - ber - ry bush, the mul - ber - ry bush, Here we go round the
wash... our clothes, we wash... our clothes, This is the way we
mul - ber - ry bush, So ear
wash.... our clothes, So ear
3 This is the way we iron our clothes, &c.
So early Tuesday morning.
4 This is the way we scrub the floor, &c.
So early Wednesday morning.
in.... the mom - ing.
Mon - day morn - ing.
6 This ts the way we sweep the house, &c.
So early Friday morning.
7 This IS the way we bake our bread, &c.
So early Saturday morning.
e This IS the way we mend our clothes, &c. 8 This is the way we go to church, &c.
So early Thursday morning. So early Sunday morning.
Directions — The game consists in simply suiting the actions to the words.
..,i.;:i^'^:^^"rr;;'^!^.'ijr?;u.i'irjr^^f^.;'^^^ % a^:«"^" "^'^"^^^--
Di*d b; ipecial permiuion,
1 66
Rhythmic Arts
BRAVE.t
Emilie Poulsson.
Allegro moderato.
Eleanor Smith.
Hur-rah for Bob - by Bum-ble! He nev - er minds a tum-ble, But
^^poco rit.f-^ a tempo.
up he jumps And rubs his bumps And does - n't ev - en grum-ble.
USEFUL, t
Emilib Poulsson.
A llegretto.
Eleanor Smith.
3E=EE=S=
^
-4>> ^-
^3d^^5EE|
I. He brings his fa-ther's slip - pers, Picks up the ba - by's toys;
a. On er - rands for his moth - er, He scam- pers up and down;
He shuts the door for Grand - ma With • out a bit of noise.
She vows she would not change him For all the boys in townl
Emilib Poulsson.
^ mf Allegretto.
JS3Z — a_(
POLITE, t
Eleanor Smith.
-^:
-Er-
^^E^i£
I. Oh, who's the friend - ly lit - tie chap That al - ways thinks to
3. Who jumps so quick - ly to his feet, If a - ny la - dy
lift his cap, And says "Good-mom - ing," says " Good-night?" 'Tis
needs a leat. As cour - teous as a gal - lant knight? 'Tis
^^^^^g^^
Paul Po- lite! 'Tis Paul Po-lite. Three cheers for Paul Po-litel
167
Child Training
MY SHADOW.!
1. I have a lit - tie shad - ow that goes in and out with me,
2. The fun- niest thing a - bout him is the way he likes to grow
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
Not at all like prop - er chil- dren which is al - ways ve - ry slow ;
He is ve - ry, ve - ry like me from the heels up to the head;
For he sometimes shoots up tall - er like an in- dia-rub-ber ball,
=i^
:ls=qv:
1^1
And I see him jump be - fore me, when I jump in - to my bed.
And he sometimes gets so lit - tie that there's none of him at all.
TIME TO RISE.t
„ Quickly.
\^hr^ — M
:^^. _v, J J_
v=-\ =1 q
4)b4_^__
1 — h -^ • ■- — J
L> i J=^
bird
yel
bill
Hopped up - on the wind - ow sill, Cocked hi'^ shin - ing
eye and said : "Ain't you 'shamed, you sleep - y head!"
t •' Braye," " Useful," *' Polite " are frem " Songs of a Little Child's Day." "My Shadow *' and " Time to Riae"
Ite from " llobcrt Louis Steyensou Bones," both published by Milton Bradley Company. Used by special permission.
1 68
PART VI
FREE PLAY
Free Play should be free play, that is the children
should have free choice of the play and the teacher
should mix in it as little as possible, taking merely
the part of an adviser.
Children under six would rather play with each
other than with a grown-up and this characteristic
preference should be regarded.
However, children need to learn what to play and
how to play, in order that they may have play resources
and also acquire habits of fair play, unselfishness, jus-
tice, honesty, self-control, etc., and the teacher must,
therefore, be ready at hand to advise and supervise.
The play at this time should, however, be only such
as the children enjoy and would select if left to them-
selves.
Nature is not to be encouraged, however, simply be-
cause it is nature, for what is natural is not necessarily
by any means always right. It is natural for a child
to want to slide down the banisters — but dangerous
and hence improper. But eliminate the danger in slid-
ing down the banisters ; convert a banister into a trough
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Child Training
— a sliding board with protective sides and we utilize
the love of the child for this sort of sport, to give him
certain physical training that is desirable.
Pillow fighting and jumping on a spring bed are
forms of athletic amusement that delight the child's
heart, but they are tabooed — not because there is any
harm in them themselves, but because they may do
harm to the furniture. But the harmful element may
be extracted and the joy still remain.
A child likes to walk a railway track, he will prefer
it every time to the path alongside. Take him out for
an afternoon stroll and if there is a wall alongside the
road he will be sure to choose the wall to walk on.
Leave him alone in the back yard and if he can climb
to the top of the fence he will soon be walking along
it, in imitation of the cat. These are exercises in
poise and balance and bring into play muscles that
should be co-ordinated and developed. The menace
of a train or a tumble from the fence makes the child's
desire for this form of exercise, in most cases pro-
hibitive, but have a rail in the home, yard or school
for him or provide a low, a very low imitation fence
and the danger being eliminated, the maximum physi-
cal good is obtained by allowing him to follow his
natural impulses.
What boy can resist kicking a stray tin can or burst-
ing a paper bag? Elevate the tin can and when he
kicks it he kicks his leg muscles into development.
172
Free Play
What child can naturally refrain from striking any
bell within reach ? He loves to see or hear the results
of his activity. Make him exercise the muscles of his
calves in gratifying this natural desire; suspend bells
in a row just out of reach and have him run and
jump to strike them.
With the first snow fall how many slides are made
by children on the slippery sidewalks and streets,
a menace to the pedestrian and an invitation to the
householder to spread ashes! Wax a dressed plank,
lay it on the groimd and you provide a slide that the
child may use the year round. Care should be taken
that the plank lies flat and is fastened down so that
it will not swirl around or endanger the slider.
What child has not had to be admonished for jump-
ing on the mattress of his bed — and why? Only be-
cause it worked injury to the spring or soiled the bed-
ding. Give him an old mattress for his playground, or
if this is not feasible, fasten a strong but springy plank
at each end to a low support and he may imitate a grass-
hopper or bullfrog to his heart's content.
In the same way analyze the child's other play in-
terests and likes, extract the essence and eliminate
the part that makes harmful, dangerous or worthless
that which is otherwise beneficial.
Free Plays may be divided into four classes :
I. Athletic Plays — those that are marked by physi-
cal activity.
173
Child Training
2. Manual Plays — those that are in the nature of
hand occupations.
3. Imitative Plays — those that imitate such activi-
ties, as playing horse, store, etc.
4. Games — that is, plays that have the spirit of
contest. They appeal most strongly to an older age,
where they more properly belong and are seldom en-
tered into at this age without direction. They are,
therefore, only partly " free."
ATHLETIC PLAYS
For the Athletic Plays all that is necessary or
even advisable, is to provide the materials or apparatus
with a suggestion or explanation as to their proper
use.
A Sliding Board. A smooth plank of maple or non-
splintering material 16 feet long, supported at an angle
of about 30 degrees and reached by a ladder or steps.
The child should be clad in rompers, or clothes that will
not be injured by wear. Protective board sides that
convert the slide into a chute, or banister rails add to
the safety of the sport, especially as upon acquaintance
the child is prone to go down head foremost or stand-
ing up.
A High Rail. A strip of 2 x 4 or a low fence —
a joist or 2 inch plank set on edge — for " tight-rope "
walking.
A Jumping-Off Place. A height from which the
174
Free Play
child can jump into hay or straw beneath, without
danger of injury.
A Spring Board or spring mattress. A strong board
supported and made fast at each end by a box about a
foot high, or a discarded bed mattress.
A Wallow. A square of canvas twelve feet or more,
supported and raised at each corner about two or
three feet high, so that the sag will not touch the
ground, in which the child can roll and wallow to his
heart's content.
A Trapeze and a Horizontal Bar with mat beneath,
on which the child may hang, chin himself, swing and
gyrate.
A Pair ai Soft Pillows to be used for pillow fights.
A Ball. A foot ball or basket ball is best.
A Foot Slide. A waxed board on the ground,
fastened so that it will not swing round, or with one
end slightly elevated so that the child can coast erect.
Suspended Bells. Cow bells hung so that the child
can strike them only by jumping for them.
Stilts. Made of two tin cans through the top of
each of which two holes have been punched and cord or
thin rope inserted to form a loop which the child may
hold in each hand while walking with a foot on each
can.
A Swing.
A Rope. Suspended so that the child can climb it.
A Trolley. Fasten a twenty-five to fifty foot length
175
Child Training
of 34 irich wire, or woven wire cable between two
points so that the lower end is within reach of the
ground and the other high enough to give a sufficient
incline. Place on the wire a trolley wheel from whicli
you have suspended a cross stick that can be grasped
and a trailing rope. The child drags the trolley wheel
by the trolley rope to the highest point of the wire,
mounts a platform or box that raises him within reach
of the cross bar, which he then grasps and is carried
by gravity down the wire till his feet touch the ground.
A Jumping Rope. Twelve or fifteen feet of long
rope for jumping and for Tug of War.
A Teeter, or See-Saw.
Hoops.
A Horizontal Ladder raised overhead, on the rounds
of which the child may swing himself along by his
hands.
A Merry-Go-Round. A rather elaborate but very
successful piece of apparatus, consisting of two or more
go-cart seats, which the child puts in motion round a
center by pushing and pulling with his hands and feet.
A Wheelbarrow, Cart, Shovel and Pail, etc.
MANUAL PLAYS
The following materials suggest the activity.
Blackboard or paper for drawing, and crayon, pen-
cil, etc.
Water colors for painting.
176
Free Play
Paper and scissors for cutting.
Clay for making " mud pies " and modeling.
Beads for stringing.
A bent tube or pipe — the broad opening edged with
a scalloped cloth band — for blowing bubbles. A good
mixture for blowing bubbles is soap suds and water to
which about one-third of its quantity of glycerine has
been added.
IMITATIVE PLAYS
The imitative plays are far the most appealing to
children under nine, and to girls even older. Imitat-
ing grown-up activities — such as keeping house, cook-
ing, keeping store, running an ofhce, teaching school,
calling, will entertain and engross children for weeks
at a time, when they would tire of any and every
game.
The only precaution to be taken is that children imi-
tate only the wholesome or unobjectionable. They
should not be allowed to imitate smoking, intoxicated
persons, cripples, etc. Some parents think lightly of
allowing a child to pretend to " smoke " a pencil or
their father's pipe, to play robbers, or even a funeral.
Such pretense cannot be of any good and may do much
harm by way of mental suggestion, as well as in other
ways. I knew of a parent who left her children play-
ing robbers and returned in the nick of time to find the
" robber " with o rope tied round his neck and the
177
Child Training
other end swung over an attic beam, just about to be
hung !
Provide the follow^ing materials, for the rest, usually
a suggestion what to play is all that is necessary.
Dolls, Doll House, Doll Carriage. (For girls only.)
Old clothes with plenty of safety pins for dressing
up.
A Sand Pile — preferably of clean sea sand, with
bucket, shovel, boxes, cake forms, etc., a plasterer's
trowel for building houses, villages, etc.
Large blocks the size of ordinary building bricks
and miscellaneous materials for building houses, forts,
trains, etc.
Toy furniture — chairs, tables, beds, bureaus,
pianos, stoves, flat irons, brooms, tubs, wash board,
dishes, etc.
Toy Soldiers.
Toy Animals.
A Play House belonging to the children alone,
equipped in every part as for grown-ups, but on a
diminutive scale — not a toy house but one into which
the child could go and " live and move and have his
being " in imitation of all the activities of his elders —
would be an ideal setting for the child's imitative play
activities.
Other imitative plays for which special apparatus is
unnecessary or can be improvised are :
Playing house, store, conductor, horse, bear, In-
178
Free Play
dians, firemen, blacksmith, school, doctor, circus, sol-
dier, etc.
GAMES WITHOUT APPARATUS
Tag. One child who is called " It " or " Old Man,"
tries to tag any one of the others he can catch and
hold, till he counts three. The one tagged or caught
then becomes " It." Usually there is one or more
bases agreed upon, such as a box, post or wall.
One cannot be caught or tagged while he is touching
base. " It " is usually selected by some counting-out
rime, such as the following. One child says the rime,
pointing to each child in turn from left to right in-
cluding himself, with each accented word and the one
pointed to with the final word becomes " It."
Eeny, meeny, miney mo,
Catch a lobster by the toe,
If he hollers, let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miney mo !
Cat and Rat. Children hold hands in a ring while
one child on the outside, called the cat, tries to catch
another child on the inside, called the rat. Those
forming the ring try to prevent the cat from getting
into the ring, by lowering their arms or otherwise ob-
structing his passage, or, if he has succeeded in getting
in, they open the way for the rat to escape and try to
keep the cat in.
179
Child Training
Hide and Seek. One child who is " It " shuts his
eyes in his hands at base, while the others hide. " It "
or the " Old Man " either counts to a certain number
or is told when the hiders are ready. He then searches
for them, and they try to run in and touch base before
he spies them out, saying " I spy " and touches base.
The first one caught becomes " It " and the others come
in free.
Snake. The children are seated in a circle with
" It " in the center. " It " has a handkerchief which
he tosses over his back upon a child. The child on
whom it falls immediately tries to toss it on to another
child in the circle before " It " can tag him. If " It "
succeeds in tagging any child while the handkerchief is
on any part of his body the child so tagged becomes
" It."
Pussy Wants a Corner. All the children except the
one who is " Pussy " stand in corners, or on a marked
spot. They try to exchange " corners " with each
other while " Pussy " goes from one to the other say-
ing, " Pussy wants a corner." If " Pussy " succeeds
in getting into a corner before an exchange is made the
one left out becomes " Pussy."
Going to Jerusalem. Chairs — one less than the
number of children — are placed in a row facing alter-
nately one side and the other. The children then
march round the chairs while music plays, or the teacher
sings or counts. The instant the music stops they drop
1 80
Free Play
into a seat and the child left without a seat goes to
one side. A chair is removed, the music starts, the
march is continued, the music stops, and so on, till only
one chair and two children are left. When the music
finally stops the one seated wins.
GAMES WITH APPARATUS
The following games usually need to be directed or
started by an older child or by the teacher, but the
children should be encouraged to play games inde-
pendently, always, however, with care and precision
and endeavor to improve. If they " fool " and do not
observe the strict rules of the game, the privilege
should be denied them.
Quoits. Have the children play quoits, using rings
of rope and stakes fitted into a wooden base for goals.
Have them keep the score accurately.
Bean Bag. Have the children play " bean bag "
with a board of three holes valued at i, 2, 3 points,
respectively, and keep their own score, ten points being
the game.
Ten-Pins. Have the children play shuffle board or
ten-pins, keeping their own score and taking turns at
setting up the men in their proper positions.
181
Photosrapli by Bachrach
MANUAL TRAINING
"Paper Lantern and Pinwheel"— Developing skill, accuracy, industry, etc.
PART VII
MANUAL TRAINING AND OCCUPATIONS
This period is divided into two classes of manual
activities — i. Manual Training, consisting of more
or less formal exercises and 2. Occupations which
are of the nature of adult work.
AIMS
In executing the different models it should be con-
stantly borne in mind that the real object of the work
is not the product of the child's hands but the effect
on the child himself; not the drawing or painting but
the ability to make things well ; not the petty toys or
gifts which are intrinsically valueless, but the skill,
craftsmanship, handiness the child acquires by making
them. Whether the four-year-old is some day to be
a carpenter or an architect, a chauffeur or an engineer,
a plumber or a printer, a surgeon or a painter, a mech-
anician or a pianist, or follow any of a hundred other
pursuits, these manual lessons prepare him, starting
him with the fundamentals, for though the time may
seem far ahead — art is long. The exercises are made
concrete because they appeal to the child, for where
there is such interest the reflex effect is much greater
than otherwise. But the entire object is to make him
185
child Training
handy, dexterous, quick, deft, neat, orderly, clever
imaginative, resourceful, interested, observant, reason-
able, inventive, persistent, industrious, independent.
This is a formidable list of virtues, but surely worth
while objects in themselves and each exercise con-
tributes in some degree to the realization of these
objects, no matter if the objective thing produced is
immediately destroyed or thrown into the waste basket
as rubbish — which it undoubtedly is. This should not,
however, be its immediate fate for the effect on the
child of doing so would be to discourage him, making
his efforts seem futile and further effort not worth
while. The following points should, therefore, be con-
stantly borne in mind by the teacher and exacted of
the children in all their work.
Order. Each day they should set everything in or-
der and put away each thing in its proper place after
finishing.
Neatness. They should keep all their work spotless.
Clean hands are necessary. Smudged, soiled or
crumpled work should be done over.
Accuracy. They should be required to be always
as accurate and exact as the limitations of their age
and skill will permit. If careless or slipshod work is
accepted, the teacher will get nothing else and it will
grow worse.
Concentration. They should " work while they
work " and keep steadily at it till finished. The en-
i86
Manual Training — Occupations
trance of the cat, the fall of a book, the ring of the
door-bell should not be allowed to distract their atten-
tion from the matter in hand.
Independence. They should do their work with as
little assistance as possible. It is much easier to help
the child than to help him help himself. With a touch
here and a stroke there the teacher could instantly set
him straight or get him out of many a difficulty, but she
should restrain her itching fingers and make it a matter
of pride with each one to be able to say, " I did it all
myself."
LEFT HANDEDNESS
Left handedness has a deep seated, physiological
cause. The right hand, eye and foot are controlled
by the left hemisphere of the brain and the left hand
and side of the body by the right half of the brain.
What it is that gives the original predisposition to
the use of the right hand has never satisfactorily been
explained though dozens of theories have been ad-
vanced.
As to the advisability of training a left handed child
to write with the right hand there is also much con-
trary opinion. Dr. Gould, one authority, calls it " a
crime to force a change to the right hand." Whereas
Sir Daniel Wilson another authority, and himself left
handed, advises cultivating free use of the right hand
without discouraging use of the left.
187
Child Training
In the face of such conflicting opinion the best ad-
vice seems to be this :
For the convenience in using such instruments and
articles of daily life as are standardized for the right
hand it is well to make use of this hand if it can be so
trained without disarranging mental functions or mak-
ing any great sacrifice.
Now the bias toward either hand is usually slight in
early life, but very soon becomes a habit that cannot
safely be eradicated as the brain is involved.
At the very first sign of a preference for either hand,
therefore, the child should be told to offer and use his
right hand. Whenever he starts to use his left hand
do not let him do so, but say, " No, other hand." If,
however, this constant correction has apparently no
effect, it may be taken as a sign that the predilection
is too deep seated to be uprooted without doing damage
or affecting mental qualities, and should the child reach
the age for beginning to write after long but unsuc-
cessful endeavor to change his bias to the right hand,
the conclusion is that it is too deep seated to be safely
eradicated.
In other words if the left handedness is very deeply
marked it is a mistake to force the child into the use
of the right hand for it will disturb his mental func-
tioning and his skill. If, however, the left handedness
is not deeply marked and can readily be changed it is
best, for sake of the minor conveniences and to avoid
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Manual Training — Occupations
awkwardness in daily life, to cultivate the use of the
right hand as soon as the opposite tendency shows it-
self — not wait till the age when the child begins to
write.
The cultivation of ambidexterity, that is, equal skill
with both hands, is now generally agreed to be inadvisa-
ble since neither hand can be trained to as high a
degree of skill as one; both hands become skilful at
the expense of one. In other words, neither the right
nor the left hand becomes as expert if both are trained
as either the right or left would alone.
1S9
MANUAL TRAINING
CLAY WORK
Lesson i. Ball, Apple. Give each child a piece
of clay the size of an tgg and have him roll it into as
perfect a ball as he can, while you make one at the
same time. Always while the children are working
ask them questions and encourage them also to ask
questions about the things they are making and the
materials they are using. This is to induce an inquir-
ing state of mind and form the habit of being inter-
ested and curious about everything with which they
are brought into contact. For instance, in this case
such questions as the following might be asked and an-
swered :
" What other things are round, like a ball ? "
" An orange, the sun," etc.
" What is clay made from ? "
" Rotted rock."
" What is made from clay? "
" Bricks, flower pots and even china, by baking the
clay."
Then have them convert their spheres into a spher-.
ical fruit — an apple, by flattening two opposite sides,
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Manual Training — Occupations
making a slight depression or dimple in each side and
inserting a short stem. Give them a real apple for a
model, if possible, and discuss with them the kinds of
apples, how they grow, when ripe, uses, etc. Ask
them what other fruits they can think of that are
round.
Lesson 2. Cube, House. Give each child a piece
of clay the size of an tgg and have him roll it into a
ball. Then ask him to raise the ball above the tabk
and drop it, flattening one side slightly. Then have
him pat the top with the fingers, press the right side
flat, then the left and finally the front and back to
form a cube. Avoid as much as possible touching the
children's cubes and have them follow the directions
as you tell them, so that they may learn to know the
meaning of right and left, top and bottom, front and
back. Ask them what things have a similar shape —
a box, a house, a lump of sugar, etc. Then have them
convert their cubes into cubical objects.
Lesson 3. Cylinder, Drum. Give each child a
piece of clay as before, then have him first form it into
a ball, then by rolling this ball on the table in one
direction till elongated and by flattening the ends,
make it into a cylinder. Ask the children what things
have a similar shape — a drum, a mug, a rolling-pin,
etc. Have them convert their cylinders into cylindrical
objects.
Lesson 4. Potato. Have each child begin to model
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Child Training
an ovoid or egg-shaped " sequence." Have him first
model a potato from a real one before him. Ask the
children how potatoes grow — like oranges and ap-
ples? Tell them that the farmer plants the potato
eyes, from each of which another potato plant will
grow.
Lesson 5. Egg. Continuing the ovoid sequence,
have each child model an ^gg, after first having made
a sphere as a preliminary step. Have an egg before
the children and call their attention to the difference
in size of the two ends, which they should try to copy
exactly. Talk with them about eggs — where they
come from, what they contain, what animals besides
hens lay eggs — birds, frogs, fish, etc.
Lesson 6. Nests and Eggs. Have each child model
a nest, first forming a sphere, cutting it in half through
the middle and pressing a hollow in the flat side with
the thumb, then have him make several small eggs and
put them in the nest. Continue the talk of the previ-
ous lesson on eggs with a conversation about birds'
nests — (how made — of straw, hair, twigs, leaves,
etc., and where placed — in trees, high up generally,
but also in hollows of trees and even on the ground),
laying the eggs, hatching, feeding the young, teach-
ing them to fly, etc.
Lesson 7. Lemon. Have each child model a lemon.
Ask what the shape of the lemon is, round or egg
shaped.
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Manual Training — Occupations
Lesson 8. Pear. Have each child model a pear, us-
ing a bit of match stick or twig for a stem.
Lesson 9. Hat. Have each child model a hat, then
cut a narrow strip of colored paper and make a band
and streamers. Ask what shape the crown is.
Lesson 10. Cup and Saucer. Have each child
model a cup and saucer.
Lesson 11. Horseshoe. Have each child model a
horseshoe, making first a very long cylinder, thicker in
the middle than at the ends, then bend it into shape,
flattening it and making " nails " with lentils.
Lesson 12. Candlestick. Have each child model a
candlestick.
Lesson 13. Teapot. Have each child model a tea-
pot.
Lesson 14. Boat. Have each child model a boat,
using sticks for masts and bowsprit.
Lesson 15. Chain. Have each child model a chain,
rolling out very long cylindrical pieces and joining
their ends, first inserting each in the link already made.
COLOR WORK
Lesson 16. Three Primary Colors. Show the chil-
dren the colors, red, yellow, blue, and ask them to
mention things that have these colors.
Encourage their minds to range for a moment over
the whole universe, picking out fantastic, as well as
obvious things that are red, yellow and blue, but have
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Child Training
them come back to the matter immediately in hand
the instant they are told to do so.
Lesson 1 7. Red — Mitten. Give each child a paint
box and brush, a sheet of heavy paper, a saucer or
bowl of water and a piece of rag or blotting paper.
Show the children how to wet their brushes and then
work up the red color on the cake of paint. Discuss
how the brush is made, of wood or a goose quill and
camel or badger's hair, for the finer brushes; of bris-
tles of wood fiber for the cheaper.
Have each child place his left hand on a sheet of
paper, the fingers together, the thumb extended, and
draw around it. Then have him paint in the outline
with red to form a mitten, being very careful not to
go beyond the line. Ask the children why mittens are
often made red and tell them that red is a " warm "
color — not really, of course, but looks so. Ask them
why mittens are warmer than gloves (the fingers
lying together keep each other warm).
Tell the children that red, orange and yellow are
called " warm " colors. Ask them if they can tell why.
Ask them to name all the warm things they can think
of that have these colors — fire, the sun, candle light,
etc.
Lesson 18. Orange — An Orange. Ask the chil-
dren why this color is called orange and what other
things have a similar color. Then have each child
paint an orange, starting with a dot in the center of the
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Manual Training — Occupations
paper, being as accurate as he can and enlarging the
spot gradually and carefully till it has the size and
shape he thinks an orange should be.
Lesson 19. Yellow — Lemon. Discuss the color
yellow as in the case of the orange and have each child
paint a lemon.
Lesson 20. Green — A Leaf. Give each child an
oak or maple leaf and have him place it in the center
of a sheet of paper, and holding it down with his left
hand draw around it with a pencil, so as to make an
outline of the leaf on the paper.
Then have him paint the leaf he has drawn and ask
him what color he should use — green. Ask the chil-
dren, as usual when a new color is introduced, what
other things are green — grass, grain, many kinds of
vegetables before ripe, etc. Ask them what color dif-
ferent fruits turn when ripe and leaves before they
fall.
Tell the children that green, blue and violet are
called cool colors and ask them if they can tell why.
Ask them to name all the cool things they can think of
that are either of these colors — the sea, shade, the
sky after the sun has set, etc.
Lesson 21. Blue — Bluebird. Discuss the color
blue with the children. Then draw for each one an out-
line of a simple conventional bird and have it filled
in with blue.
Lesson 22. Violet — A Violet. Tell the children
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Child Training
that you are going to let them paint a very sweet flower
that grows in the woods in spring, a flower that is also
the name of a girl and a color, and see if they can
guess its name — violet. Then have each child make
a dot of violet color on a sheet of paper and enlarge it
irregularly to about the size of a violet and finish it by
drawing a stem with green crayon. As in the case
of the other colors, ask the children what violet colored
things they see or can mention.
Lesson 23. A Rainhozv. Have the children ever
seen a rainbow? If you have a glass prism, let the sun
shine through it to show them the " spectrum " it
makes on the floor or wall. Have them first count the
number of colors they can recognize, then name them
in order, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet.
Lesson 24. A Spectrum. Have each child make a
spectrum — as a straight rainbow is called — by draw-
ing with crayons of each color short, thick vertical
lines close together. Be sure that the lines are put in
the correct order and have the children learn the names
in this order, as this is the alphabet of colors.
Lesson 25. A Stained Glass Windozv. Cut oblongs
of white paper about 3 by 6, then have each child fold
one lengthwise — a book — and cut off a triangular or
curved piece from the unfolded corner, so that when
opened the piece is shaped like a church window.
Have him then wet both sides with clear water,
then mix red in the pan of the paint box with his
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Manual Training — Occupations
brush, and take up a very full brush of the color and
holding it several inches above the paper shake off a
big drop like a blot in two or three places. Have him
do the same with the yellow^ and blue respectively, and
allow the colors so dropped to mingle at their edges,
covering the whole paper and giving the effect of a
stained glass window. The colors should not be
stirred up together with the brush or they will be-
come " muddy." Have the children notice that they
get six colors with only three that they used, — orange
where the red and yellow mingled, green from the yel-
low and blue, and violet from the red and blue. This
is a very important as well as a very instructive lesson
in color synthesis and no less surprising than instruc-
tive. Tell them that orange, green and violet are
called second-ary colors and those they made them
from — red, blue and yellow — are called first or pri-
mary colors.
Lesson 26. Balloons Drawn. Give each child a sheet
of water color paper and have him arrange half a dozen
pennies in a cluster near the top of the sheet. Then
have him, without disturbing the order, draw with a
pencil around the outside of each, so that he will have
when finished a drawing of six rings. Then have him
draw lines from the bottom of each ring to a point near
the bottom of the sheet of paper, so as to form a collec-
tion of toy balloons when painted in the following
lessons. Save.
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Child Training
Lesson 2y. Balloons of Primary Color. Have each
child paint his alternate rings drawn in the preceding
lesson red, yellow, and blue, respectively, being very
careful not to go beyond the lines. If he is unable to
do this carefully enough with the water colors, have
him use colored crayons. Save. Review the fact that
these are the three most important colors and are
called First (Primary) colors. The intervening rings
are to be left blank for the next painting lesson.
Lesson 28. Balloons of Secondary Color. Using
the sheet of balloons begun in the preceding lesson,
have the children mix red and yellow in the pans of
their paint boxes and with the resulting color (orange)
paint the blank ring left between the red and yellow
circles. Have them do the same with the yellow and
blue, and blue and red, which form the colors green
and violet, respectively. Review the fact that these
resulting colors as they are made from the " First "
colors are called " Second " (Secondary) colors. This
is a most important lesson and may be made the basis
of a very interesting or imaginative discussion.
DRAWING
Lesson 29. Fruits. Have each child draw with an
appropriate colored crayon different fruits. Have the
fruit present, if possible, and call attention to its char-
acteristics— an apple, pear, banana, plum, lemon, etc.
Lesson 30. Vegetables. Have each child draw
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Manual Training — Occupations
with an appropriate colored crayon different vegetables
such as the tomato, carrot, radish, parsnip, etc.
Lesson 31. Flowers. Have each child draw with
an appropriate crayon different flowers, such as the
jonquil, iris, tulip, etc.
Lesson ^2. Men's Houses. Talk with the children
about dift'erent kinds of dwellings — first those of men
— a tent, a house, a palace, and about the kind of men
who live in such houses — Indians and soldiers in a
tent, kings and queens in palaces, and so on. Have the
children draw one or several of these houses. Never
disparage their results nor laugh at their efforts, no
matter how crude they may be. Suggest improve-
ments or alterations, but tactfully, so as not to dis-
courage them.
Lesson 2>2>- Animals' Houses. Talk with the chil-
dren about the different kinds of dwellings of animals
— a dog kennel, a barn, a bird house, and have them
draw each.
Lesson 34. Church. Talk with the children about
the house of God — a church — and have them draw
one with a steeple and a cross.
Lesson 35. Furniture. Talk with children about
the furnishings of a house and have them draw such
articles as might be found in a parlor — a straight
chair, a rocking chair, a sofa, a table, a piano, a pot of
ferns, etc.
Lesson 36. Table Furnishings. Have the children
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Child Training
draw articles to be found in the dining room — a cup
and saucer, teapot, knife and fork, spoon, etc.
Lesson 37. Kitchen Utensils. Have the children
draw articles to be found in the kitchen — a frying
pan, a tub, potato masher, stove, a broom, clothes-
horse, etc.
Lesson 38. Bedroom Furniture. Have the children
draw articles to be found in a bedroom — a bed, a
bureau, brush, comb, hand mirror, etc.
Lesson 39. Tools. Have the children draw differ-
ent tools — a hammer, screw driver, a rake, a hoe, a
pitchfork, etc.
Lesson 40. Sim and Moon. Have the children be-
gin a light " sequence." Ask them what things in
nature give light — the sun, moon, and stars ; what
things invented by man — candles, lamp, gas, electric
light. Have each child then draw a horizontal line
through the center of a sheet of paper to represent the
horizon — why is it called a horizon-tal line? — and
in the center draw, with the help of a ring or coin, a
half circle resting on the line — then color it orange
or red to represent the setting sun. Rays of the same
color drawn from the sun help the effect. Then have
him, on another sheet, draw a crescent moon and color
it yellow.
Lesson 41. A Candle, Lamp, etc. Have the chil-
dren draw a light " sequence " — a candle, a lamp, a
gas jet, and an electric light bulb.
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Manual Training — Occupations
Lesson 42. Faces. Have the children draw faces
making an oval for the outline of the face and putting
in the features with straight lines arranged all hori-
zontally or pointing up to the center, or down to the
center, etc., to give various expressions.
PAPER FOLDING AND CUTTING
Lesson 43. Paper Chains — Red. Give each child
a sheet of red cutting paper about six inches square,
and have him fold it once, edge to opposite edge, then
a second time in the same direction, then a third time
very carefully, keeping the edges even and creasing
them with his finger nails. Have him open and tear
it along the creases into strips, or, if he is very young
and unable to do this well, cut down the creases with
the scissors. Have him bend a strip end to end till it
laps, then paste. Have him insert, in the ring thus
made, another strip and paste its ends together and so
on with the remaining strips, forming a red chain of
eight links.
Lesson 44. Paper Chains — Yellow and Blue.
Have the children make a yellow and a blue chain as
directed for a red chain in the previous lesson.
Lesson 45. A Lantern. Have each child fold a
square of colored paper edge to edge, then cut slits
one-half inch apart from the folded edge to within half
an inch of unfolded edge ; then open and paste together,
so that strips run lengthwise, to form a lantern. Cut
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Child Training
another strip and paste to top edge for a handle.
This makes a very decorative Christmas tree orna-
ment.
Lesson 46. A Reading Book — A Singing Book —
A Window. Give each child a sheet of white paper
about five inches square and have him fold the lower
edge to exactly meet the top edge. Ask the children
what this resembles — a book. Ask them how many
leaves it has and how many pages. Holding it in your
hand, " read " a story to them out of it or describe
imaginary pictures you see there. Have them do the
same. Then have them fold it again in the opposite
direction to form the " singing book." Have them
sing a song from the book. Open it out and they can
see a " window " of four panes. Have them describe
what they see through the window. This may be made
not only a most fascinating game, but a very valuable
exercise for cultivating the imagination.
Lesson 47. A Table — A Screen. Have each child
fold a " Book " then open and fold the two edges to
coincide with the center line. What does this resemble
when stood upright? A pair of doors or window with
shutters. Partly open it forms a " Table." Crease
the center line in the opposite direction and stand on
end to form a " Screen " and have the children tell
what imaginary things are behind it.
Lesson 48. A Foot Stool — A Barn — A House.
Have each child fold the " Book," then without open-
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Manual Training — Occupations
ing, fold lengthwise again, then end to end to form the
eight leaved singing book. Open the singing book and
fold each end to the center line and partially open to
form a " Foot Stool." Open out the original square
which will now be creased into a checkerboard of i6
squares. Fold this in half; then fold over the upper
right hand corner and partially opening this end, press
down to make " A Barn." Treating the opposite
corner in the same way makes a " House."
Lesson 49. A Fan — A Washboard. Have each
child fold a " Fan " as follows : Take a sheet of paper
about letter size, 8x10, and fold the short edge over
about half an inch. Invert and fold this strip back.
Invert and do the same, and continue in this way till the
entire width of the paper is folded into these narrow
strips. Pinched together at one end, or tied with a
string, spread at the other, this forms a " Fan."
Opened out it forms a " Washboard."
Lesson 50. A Dart. Have each child take letter
size sheets of paper and fold a short edge so that it
coincides w^ith the adjacent long edge. Have him
then, without opening it, fold the folded edge to the
same long edge twice in succession to form a " Dart,"
with which he may have some harmless sport in cast-
ing it at a target.
Lesson 51. A Cut Design. Have each child fold a
sheet of colored cutting paper, not less than six inches
square, corner to diagonally opposite corner, then acute
203
Child Training
corner to acute corner, a second and a third time, till
he has eight triangles lying one on top of the other.
All folding should be most carefully done, the edges
exactly meeting and the fold creased down firmly and
evenly. The eight open edges should be held to the
left. This is the usual folded form from which four
sided figures are cut. Have the children thea make
two vertical cuts. Then open the three pieces thus re-
sulting and, after arranging them in a " form of
beauty," paste them.
Lesson 52. A Cut Design. Have each child fold
sheets of the colored cutting paper as described in the
preceding lesson, cut in a different direction from the
one just made, then open, arrange the parts in a form
of beauty, and paste.
Lesson 53. A Pin Wheel. Have each child make a
pin wheel as follows: Fold a square, corner to
diagonally opposite corner, open, fold the other corner
to opposite, open and slit down the creases to within
an inch of the center, fold alternate points thus made
to center and fasten them down to a stick with a pin.
Lesson 54. A Tent — An Envelope — A Frame.
Have each child make a " Tent," an " Envelope," and
a " Frame " from dictation, as follows :
(a) Take a sheet of oblong paper about letter size,
that is 8 X 10. Fold a short edge till it coincides
with the adjacent long edge and crease (iron) down
firmly. Fold back the oblong piece remaining and
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Manual Training — Occupations
either tear or cut it off. Tell the children this is the
way they can always make a square from an oblong
or test a piece of paper or any other material to see
if it is square. The square folded thus, corner to
corner, they may then call a tent. This is the first
step.
(b) Open the square out flat and fold in the opposite
direction, corner to corner ; open out and fold one edge
to opposite edge, open again and fold in opposite direc-
tion. When they now open out the square it will be
creased in four intersecting lines — eight lines radiat-
ing from the center. This is the second step.
(c) Fold each corner to the center. This is the
third step — the " Envelope."
(d) Fold back each of the center triangular points
to the edge of the envelope, thus forming the " Frame."
A square of red coated paper (red on one side, white
on the other) may be used for the above, in which
case the folding should be done with the red side down
so that " The Envelope " when finished will be red.
Lesson 55. The Case — A Crown. Have each
child fold a square of paper to make a " Case " and a
" Crown," as follows :
(a) Fold square of paper to make the " Envelope,"
described in the preceding lesson.
(b) Invert and fold the corners to the center to form
the " Case." There will then be four triangles on the
upper side and four squares on the lower side.
2,05
Child Training
(c) Invert the " Case " and fold an outside corner
to the diagonally opposite outside corner so that the
four small squares are inside.
(d) Holding the triangle thus formed in the left
hand with the two points up, lift up the left hand,
small, inside square and crease it back and the right
hand, inside square likewise, and you have the
" Crown."
Lesson 56. The Accordion. Have each child fold
a sheet of paper as for the " Fan," described in a pre-
ceding lesson. Have him then iron down the creases
with a paper cutter, then tear off each strip very care-
fully or separate into strips with the paper cutter. In
either case it is important for success that the folds
should be firmly ironed down to present a sharp edge.
As a preparation for this lesson, the children might
separate the uncut edges of a magazine or book with
a paper cutter.
Then have each child take two of the strips thus
made, and placing the end of one on the end of the
other and at right angles to it, fold the lower across the
upper, each one alternately, till each strip is entirely
folded up. Paste the last fold to the one beneath, in-
vert and do the same with the first square and when
pulled out you have the " accordion."
Lesson 57. A Bed — A Cradle — A Trough. Have
each child fold a sheet of paper to make a " Bed," a
" Cradle," and a " Trough," as follows:
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Manual Training — Occupations
(a) Make the " Crown," described in a preceding
lesson.
(b) Fold back the points that stand up in the center
to form a " Bed."
(c) By folding one end point down into the inside,
this may be converted into a " Cradle."
(d) By doing the same with the other point the
" Trough " is made.
Lesson 58. A Salt Cellar — A Nose Pincher. Have
each child fold paper to make a " Salt Cellar " or
" Nose Pincher," as follows :
(a) Make the "Case."
(b) Invert, so that the four squares are up, then,
(c) Holding the case with the left hand under it,
insert beneath the small squares four fingers of the
right hand, thrusting them down into the comers, at the
same time that the center of the case is pushed up from
beneath and pinched together by the fingers of the
right hand.
Lesson 59. A Tray — A Wind Mill. Have each
child fold paper to make a " Tray " and a " Wind
Mill," as follows:
(a) Make the "Envelope." (See lesson 54.)
(b) Then, instead of inverting to make the " Case,"
fold each corner to the center, making the " Tray."
(c) Holding the " Tray " in the left hand and keep-
ing the points of the triangles as nearly as possible in
place, pull out from underneath each of the square
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Child Training
points and crease them backwards, so that four large
triangular wings stand up. This is rather difficult, but
important, for several interesting forms are made from
it.
(d) Fold these wings back, as shown below, to make
a " Wind Mill."
Lesson 60. Napkins. Have each child fold paper
or linen napkins in above forms for luncheon or pic-
nic party.
Lesson 61. Curls — Lamplighter — Spools —
Shovel — Fork, etc. Have each child make strips as
directed in lesson 56. Then have him roll each strip
up tightly on a stick. Then pull out the inside of two
of the rolls to form " curls " which may be tucked
behind the ears. Paste the loose end of each of the
remaining rolls, then punch out their centers to form
a " Lamplighter " or horn. By pinching the larger
end, a " Spoon " or " Shovel " is made. By slitting
up the large end thus flattened, a " Fork," " Paint
Brush " or " Broom " is made.
Lesson 62. Double Boat. Have each child fold
paper to make a " Double Boat," as follows :
(a) Make the "Wind Mill." (See lesson 59.)
(b) Fold 2 wings so that they lie alongside of each
other in one direction and the other two in the opposite
direction.
(c) Invert and fold in half, lengthwise to form a
" Double Boat."
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Manual Training — Occupations
Various other forms may be made by folding the
wings of the " Wind Mill " in different directions.
STRING WORK KNOTTING, STRING FIGURES, ETC.
Lesson 63. Cat's Cradle. Teach the children
" Cat's Cradle." Give each a string, at least four feet
long before the ends are tied together, and have them
learn the sequence of figures and practise doing them
till they can complete the series without bungling, so
that their " fingers are not all thumbs."
Lesson 64. Overhand Knot. Get two pieces of
rope about six feet long and three quarters to an inch
in diameter for use in teaching knot tying.
Give each child two pieces of fishing line or wrap-
ping cord about a foot long. Using the rope, show
the children how to make the simple " Overhand "
knot and have them practise making it first with the
rope and then with string. Tell them always to hold
the main part of the rope, or string, in the left hand as
if it were attached to a ball or stake, with the free end
pointing towards the right, and make the knot with the
right hand by passing the free end over the main
part.
The overhand knot is made in this way by passing the
free end back over the main part and then up through
the loop thus made.
Lesson 65. Blood Knot. In the same way teach the
" Blood Knot." The blood knot is made by passing
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Child Training
the free end back over the main part, then through the
loop several times and drawing taut.
Lesson 66. Figure 8 Knot. In the same way teach
the " Figure 8 Knot."
The figure 8 knot is made by passing free end back
over the main part then round it and down through
loop.
Lesson d'j. Reef Knot and Granny Knot. In the
same way teach the " Reef Knot," for tying two pieces
or ends of string together and caution against the
faulty " granny " knot which it resembles.
The reef knot is made thus : With a string end in
each hand ( i ) put right hand end under other, then
left under other, then (2) put right hand over other
and through loop. The " granny " knot which is an
insecure knot is made the same way as the reef knot,
except in the (2) movement, the right hand end is put
incorrectly under other and through loop.
Remember " Under, under, over " to get the reef
knot correct.
Have the children practise tying up bundles, passing
the string round once lengthwise and crosswise, and
tying with a reef knot.
Lesson 68. Bow Knot. In the same way teach the
" Bow Knot " and caution against the " granny " bow
knot.
To make the bow knot do (i) movement of reef
knot then (2) make a loop of left hand free end (3)
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Manual Training — Occupations
put right hand over neck of loop {under would make
it a " granny " bow knot which would slip or come
untied) (4) loop right hand free end, put it through
original loop and draw all taut.
Have the children practise tying their shoe strings,
ties, hair ribbons and sashes.
Lesson 69. Slip Knot. In the same way teach
" Slip Knot."
To make the slip knot hold the string as usual in left
hand with free end pointing to right, then with
right hand take hold of the main part of the string be-
low left hand and put it over free end then through
loop and draw taut.
Lesson 70. Plaiting. Teach plaiting three strings.
Take three strings, pieces of tape or ribbon, prefer-
ably of different colors, tie their ends together and
fasten down with a thumb tack. Holding the strings
in the hands so that there is always a central string
and one on each side, put the right and left string al-
ternately over the one in the middle.
Lesson yi. Tivist Knot. Teach the " Twist Knot."
The twist knot is made by folding a single string
back on itself so as to give three parallel strands, then
plaiting these strands exactly as if they were three in-
dependent strings.
Lesson y2. Chain Knot. Teach " Chain Knot "
or Chain Stitch.
This is done either with the fingers, a hook or a
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crochet needle. Make a slip knot, then pull or hook
the main part of the string through this loop so as to
form another loop. Continue in the same way pull-
ing the main part of the string through each loop to
form another loop.
Lesson 73. Bead Knotting. Have each child knot
a string, preferably a colored one, at regular inter-
vals, say every inch, or make two or three knots
close together at intervals of two inches. The ends
may then be raveled out into " tassels."
WORK FOR SPECIAL SEASONS
The following lessons are to be given at the ap-
propriate season.
Thanksgiving Season
Ask the children who of their number have used
bows and arrows, and tell them what connection the
Indians had with Thanksgiving. When the Pilgrims
first came to this country they found many Indians,
some friendly, others hostile. After they had been
here about a year, they gave thanks that their lives had
been spared and that their first crops had been success-
ful. The friendly Indians had taught them how to
grow Indian corn or maize. (In Europe they call
wheat and other grain "corn.") This was the first
Thanksgiving Day.
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Manual Training — Occupations
Have each child draw bows and arrows, a tomahawk,
a canoe, a pipe of peace, etc.
Have each child model " mud pies " — bread, cake,
plum-pudding, etc., for a make-believe Thanksgiving
Dinner.
Have each child make a cornucopia of different col-
ored paper by folding and pasting an edge of a square
sheet of paper to the adjoining edge and cutting and
pasting a paper loop to the upper corner. Have him
pop corn and fill the cornucopia for a friend or relative.
Explain that a cornucopia means " horn of plenty " and
ask the children why it and the corn are appropriate
to Thanksgiving.
Christmas Season
Have the children cut stars of 8 and 6 points.
Call their attention to the fact that the six pointed
star which is called Solomon's Seal (the Jewish em-
blem) is made of two triangles. Ask them which
they like best. " Do the stars in heaven have points? "
" No, they are balls of fire, but they give out rays of
light which look something like points." Tell them
the story of the Star of Bethlehem.
To make the 8 pointed star, fold a square sheet of
paper (gold paper if it can be obtained) corner to di-
agonally opposite corner, then acute corner to acute
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Child Training
corner twice in succession, then holding the closed
edge to the right, cut in the lines indicated below.
To make the 6 pointed star, fold a square of paper
corner to diagonally opposite corner, then acute corner
to acute corner. Then instead of folding corner to
corner a third time, fold each edge of right angle
towards the center, so that one exactly overlaps the
other before ironing the edges down. Then cut as in-
dicated below.
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Manual Training — Occupations
Have the children learn to do up a Christmas book
or bundle. The wrapping paper should be cut to such
a length that it will only lap about an inch when
wrapped around the book and its width should be the
length of the book plus twice its thickness.
Have each child draw a Christmas tree with candles
on it.
Have each child make Christmas bells by folding
sheets of red paper in half and cutting half a bell from
the folded edge, as shown below. The half bells, when
unfolded, become whole bells which should be pasted
on a sheet of white paper and connected by a ribbon
drawn with crayon.
Have each child draw stockings and paint them
different colors.
Have each child cut lancet-shape strips of red paper,
arrange them about a center and paste to make
poinsettia leaves.
Have each child draw, or draw for him, a holly spray
and have him color the leaves and berries.
St. Valentine's Day
Have each child fold sheets of red paper in half and
cut out half hearts, as shown below. Then unfold,
paste and connect by a ribbon drawn with crayon, as
in the case of the Christmas bells. Ask him why
hearts are associated with St. Valentine's Day.
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Child Training
Have him make an envelope for the heart valentine
and join the flaps by pasting a small red heart at their
meeting point.
Have each child cut several hearts, large and small,
paste on a sheet of paper and connect by a ribbon made
with the red crayon.
Washington's Birthday
Have each child draw with a crayon a hatchet, a
cluster of cherries, or a cherry tree with cherries on it
and tell the children the story of Washington and the
cherry tree.
Have each child draw with the red crayon a row
of fire crackers with fuses. Have the children make
powderless fire crackers as follows :
Roll up on a stick strips of red paper 2 inches wide,
paste the loose end and insert a piece of string in the
center for a fuse.
Have each child fold several sheets of paper in half
and cut so as to form shields.
Have each child fold a sheet of newspaper to make
a cocked hat, as follows :
(a) Placing the newspaper before him in reading
position, have him fold the upper edge down to the
lower.
(b) Fold the right edge to left and open again to
get a vertical crease down the center.
(c) Fold the upper left and right hand corners down
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Manual Training — Occupations
so that the upper edges meet in a vertical hne in the
center.
(d) Fold up half the thickness of the oblong strip
of paper at the bottom; invert and fold up the re-
maining thickness of paper.
The hat may be made smaller and still more secure
and neater as follows: Stretch the sides of the hat
apart so that the front and back peaks come together,
lap the projecting corners of the hat rim and fold the
lower corners up to the top.
The hat will remain in shape if worn, but to make
it more secure, it may be pinned, care being taken,
however, that the pin point does not protrude. A tas-
sel or plume made of colored tissue paper pinned to
the top point of course makes the hat more gay.
/
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OCCUPATIONS
To a child the most interesting manual training is
that which is in the nature of some grown up occupa-
tion, some " domestic " art. What physical training
is to free play, formal manual training is to occupa-
tions. One is systematic drill, the other more or less
spontaneous, concrete activity. One is supplementary
to the other and both are valuable.
The child's desire to imitate his elders and help in
their work offers an opportunity to train him in the
elements of both man and woman's work in and about
the house. Every normal child wants to help the
" hired man " cut grass or the cook shell peas, and it
is only because he is " in the way " and a " hindrance
rather than a help " that these services so useful to the
child are usually denied him.
In the case of a child in the family the parents in-
stead of discouraging or forbidding the " helping
hand " in household occupations should look upon this
work as part of the child's educational training and
make provision for such " help " even though it is
an actual hindrance, creating the occasion if the usual
occupation does not admit of being interfered with.
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Manual Training — Occupations
In the case of a class the opportunities should be
made for the children to do the entire work them-
selves, of course with explanation, direction and as-
sistance at first.
Following are some of the occupations which the
children may be taught:
INDOORS
Airing bed. Show them how bedding Is to be pulled
apart and spread open for sunning and airing.
Making bed. Show them how to spread and tuck
in under and upper sheet and blankets, lay pillows, etc.
Dusting. Show them how to use dust cloth, being
careful not to break objects and not to leave corners
and other spots untouched.
Show them how to use dust pan and brush.
Setting table. Show them how to do this and other
housekeeping occupations, such as:
Washing Dishes
Cleaning Silver
Taking Spots out of Clothing
Watering Plants
Arranging Flowers
Sewing. Show them how to thread a needle and
sew on buttons. Let them make a bean bag, using the
whipping stitch, or do other pieces of rough sewing,
but on real material.
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Child Training
Cooking. Show them how to boil eggs, soft, me-
dium and hard.
Show them how to bake apples and potatoes.
Show them how to toast bread.
Show them how to pop corn.
Show them how to make molasses taffy.
OUTDOORS
Let them help push the lawn mower.
Let them water the lawn.
Let them rake leaves or grass.
Let them hoe, and dig in the garden.
Let them plant flower or vegetable seeds and watch
and care for them.
Let them feed and care for such pets as dog, cat,
chickens, rabbits, squirrels, pigeons.
Let them use hammer and nails.
Let them " paint " fence, wall or steps with a pail of
water and a full size 4 inch painter's brush.
These are only a few of a great many possible oc-
cupations. Depending on the location and nature of
the place many more occupations will suggest them-
selves.
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Photograpli by Bachrach
INFORMATION
"Learning to tell time" — Teaching fundamentals
PART VIII
INFORMATION
Though a child is constantly gathering information
every moment of the day, from his surroundings and
associates and incidentally from all the previous train-
ing laid down, it is well for completeness and system
to have a short period in which certain facts of in-
formation are systematically presented to him, both
for the sake of the facts and for the sake of the prac-
tice gained in learning facts, that is, learning how to
study. " Knowledge is Classification," Herbert Spen-
cer says, and even though some of the facts learned
may not be new, the classification of them as given
below adds to the child's knowledge and encourages
a scientific attitude and habit of mind.
On the other hand, it is unsafe to take any knowl-
edge for granted or assume that the child knows even
the simplest thing he may be supposed to know — a
searching cross questioning will often reveal the most
amazing and unbelievable ignorance. This is the pe-
riod, therefore, in which the beginnings of what are
most usually thought of as school subjects are to be
taught — science, history, language, etc., and in which
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Child Training
the child is to gain practice in acquiring knowledge, in
learning how to study.
Accordingly a syllabus of the information suitable
or useful for a child is here given. It provides a com-
prehensive survey of all the chief departments of hu-
man knowledge which afterwards, in later school years,
will be expanded and. studied in detail. At the In-
formation Period each day the teacher's business is
to instruct the children in the subjects suggested in this
outline, taking up as many points at a lesson as the
time allows or the children can digest.
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION
Herbart and his disciples, especially Zille and Rein,
explain with great care and detail formal steps for
giving instruction. For the purpose of this period,
however, it will only be necessary for the teacher or
parent to PRESENT the subject to the child as simply,
clearly and directly as possible, and then call upon
him to REACT on this presentation as strongly as
possible.
Too much formalism in following out certain steps
in a certain sequence may tend to the mechanical and
it is a safer plan for the teacher or parent to have the
proper spirit and then to concentrate her attention on
but two things, PRESENTATION and REACTION,
as follows :
Presentation. First she should tell, explain, show
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Information
— as clearly, simply, vividly, interestingly as possible
all she can about the subject. This is the Presenta-
tion.
Reaction. Then she should have the child tell back
to her in his own words and own way, all he has
gathered from her presentation, comment on it, ask
questions, make suggestions, discuss it, investigate it
further, experiment. This is the Reaction — the di-
gestive process that is absolutely essential to complete
the instruction, and without which the presentation
is wasted, rendered null and void — without effect —
" in one ear and out the other."
It is most important and even essential, for the
young and untrained child to be put and kept in a good
humor during both the Presentation and Reaction.
He should be cajoled or wheedled into attending and
reacting, but never threatened or scolded. His atti-
tude at first is only what nature has bestowed on him,
and to excite or rouse his antipathy or ugly emotions
by harsh words or treatment defeats the attempt to
impose knowledge or to train in acquiring it.
An older person may voluntarily react — think it
over, debate it with himself and one of education's
tasks is to form this habit of voluntary reaction on
the part of the learner, but in the child the reaction
must be called forth by the active questioning, sug-
gestion and discussion of the teacher.
The popular expressions * pouring in " and " draw-
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Child Training
ing out " applied to methods of instruction are incor-
rect even figuratively and also misleading, and there is
no particular virtue in the process called " drawing
out " or superiority over that of " pouring in."
" Drawing all out " without " pouring in " is just as
bad as "pouring all in" without "drawing out," if
these expressions mean as supposedly they do — pre-
senting and reacting. Both are necessary in instruc-
tion. The subject must be presented and then, in order
to become a possession of the child, it must be reacted
upon by him.
Starting with the child himself — his own body —
and working outward in ever widening circles, from
the known to the unknown, the teacher should tell
him about all the things that are of interest or value
for him to know about in the world around him.
The teacher, howeyer, should not adhere strictly to
this order — from the center outward — but, follow-
ing the lead suggested by the association of the sub-
ject or the interests of the child, she may wander far
afield — to return, however, to the next point in order
after the preceding subject has been pursued suffi-
ciently, in order to make sure she is covering the
ground.
SAMPLE LESSON
In the first lesson the child learns no new facts
except possibly the names " trunk " and " limbs " and
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Information
this information is of little or no value but he must
first take in what is said and then give it back, he
must attend and react, he must listen and recite and
the ability to do this is one of the most important
study powers to be acquired.
The teacher might start off with the first lesson, as
follows :
" I 'm going to tell you some things about your own
bodies which you may already know but when I get
through I want to see if you can tell me everything
I have told you and perhaps something more besides.
Now, watch and listen till I get through.
" Your body has a head, a trunk and limbs. This
is the head (pointing to it), as you know; this part
is called the trunk and the arms and legs are called
limbs.
" Now see if you can tell me the parts of the body."
The children may not be able to take in all of this
at one lesson — depending on their maturity and pre-
vious training, if any. Indeed if this is the very first
lesson of this sort it would not be at all surprising
if not a single child could even start to tell what he
had been told when the time came for him to do so.
The teacher should then repeat what she has said,
starting with "I'm going to tell you" and ending
with " Now see if you can " — and still again, if neces-
sary, until each one of the children is aroused to make
the effort to retain and retell what has been told him.
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Child Training
She should then take up the next points, starting and
ending in a similar way :
" The things you have only one of are (pointing
to each as mentioned), one forehead, one nose, one
mouth, one tongue, one chin, one neck.
" The things you have two of are, two eyes, two
ears, two cheeks, two lips, two shoulders, two arms,
two elbows, two wrists, two hands, two thumbs, two
legs, two knees, two ankles, two feet.
" You have five fingers on each hand ; you have five
toes on each foot."
Each succeeding day the teacher should take up in
a similar way the next points given below — of course
regulating the amount to the capacity of the children.
INDEPENDENT RECITATION
The teacher should aim to have a child give the
whole recitation, in his own words and own way of
course, without questions or suggestions. It may be
necessary at first to ask questions, in order to elicit all
the child has learned but he should be asked to tell the
whole story without prompting, and later, if he is
unable to go on, the next child should be called upon
to proceed. In any case even when the child can tell
the whole thing, he need not be allowed to do so, but
may be interrupted and the next child asked to go on
with the recitation.
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Information
QUIZ QUESTIONS
Though questions that serve to prompt the child
should be discarded as soon as possible, " quiz " ques-
tions that test the child's knowledge and understand-
ing should be made use of constantly to make sure that
the child's information is not mere rote memory and
that he really knows what he is talking about.
For instance, if the child says, " My body has a
head " — then hesitates, the teacher should not ask the
prompting question, " What next? " or " What else? "
or " What is this? " but wait for the child to make the
effort to remember "trunk." When, however, the
child has finished, the teacher should " quiz " him thus,
" What do you mean by ' trunk ' ? " or " Which part of
your body is called the trunk? "
Review the various groups of facts as finished and
from time to time thereafter, starting the child off
in his recitation by a general direction or question
rather than a specific one. Thus for example, ask
him, "What do you know about your body?" or
" Tell me all you know about your body."
This is better than several questions, first about the
lips, then about the tongue, then about the teeth, and
so on, for it exacts more mental effort, more thought
in the association and arrangement of ideas.
These requirements call for some mental effort —
close attention, association, classification, and the chil-
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Child Training
dren though starting with Httle ability to make this
effort should develop more and more as the lessons
progress — the cultivation of these qualities being quite
as important and as desirable as the information ac-
quired.
Following, therefore, is a syllabus of the whole field
of knowledge that an educated child under school age
may be expected to acquire. Most of it should inter-
est him, but whether it does or not he should be re-
quired to react and to make the effort to retain for
he should acquire the habit of making a mental effort
whenever necessary whether he is interested or not.
This is the first step in learning how to study.
The syllabus aims to show both how much and how
little may be taught. Of course its suggestions are
not to be followed too literally and the teacher should
expand a topic, or on the contrary abridge it or omit
it altogether, if the interest or ability of the child in-
dicates that it would be wise to do so.
SYLLABUS OF INFORMATION LESSONS
THE BODY
Is made of head, trunk and limbs.
Has one forehead, one nose, one mouth, one tongue
one chin. Learn following nursery rimes :
Brow bender.
Eye peeper.
Nose smeller,
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Information
Mouth eater,
Chin chopper.
Knock at the door; {Tap on forehead)
Peep in ; {Look into eyes)
Lift up the latch ; {Raise nose with finger)
Walk in. {Put finger in mouth)
Has two eyes, two ears, two cheeks, two lips, two
shoulders, two arms, two elbows, two wrists, two
hands, two thumbs, two legs, two knees, two ankles,
two feet.
Has five fingers on each hand, five toes on each foot.
Learn to say the following rime; touch a finger as
you say each line :
This little pig went to market ;
This little pig stayed at home.
This little pig had roast meat;
This little pig had none ;
This little pig cried " Wee, wee,
I can't find my way home."
Head. Has hair. Hair is called blonde, if light,
brunette, if black or very dark. Use only your own
comb and brush.
Forehead. Don't scowl, frown or look cross. It
makes ugly wrinkles.
Eye has brow, lid, lashes, pupil, tears. What color
are your eyes and your friend's? Blue, brown, hazel?
Don't rub eyes. When there is anything in the eye,
pull upper lid down over lower and blow nose.
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Child Training
Ear has shell to catch sound, and a drum. Clean
ears carefully. Don't stick anything in that might hurt
the drum.
Nose has two nostrils. Don't snuffle. Don't
breathe through mouth.
Mouth has lips, tongue, gums, teeth. Lips — Don't
pout. Tongue should be pink, not white coated,
if well. First teeth are called " milk teeth." Per-
manent teeth begin to come about six years of age.
Clean up and down not across with brush and tooth
paste at night and antiseptic mouth wash every morn-
ing. Don't pick teeth with pins or needles. Use den-
tal floss. Don't bite off thread, don't crack nuts, don't
eat very sour nor very hot things. Chew food thor-
oughly. Don't taste anything unclean or improper.
Always put your hand over your mouth if you must
yawn.
Throat. If food goes down wrong "lane" drop
on hands and knees or stand on head.
Chest. Feel ribs and collar bones. Two lungs, one
on each side take in air, as a sponge does water. Air
is necessary to life. Get as much pure out-of-door air
as you can.
Heart. Feel heart beat on left hand side and listen
to the heart beat of others. Heart pumps blood
through the body.
Arteries and Veins. Are the pipes through which
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blood is pumped. Feel pulse with tips of fingers
placed on thumb-side of wrist.
Stomach. Digests food which makes blood, which
builds up body.
Muscle. Feel muscles in jaws, arm, leg, etc., when
you contract them. Muscles do the work of the body.
Exercising makes them grow.
Bone. Feel your skull, bones in arm, in front of
legs, etc. Hold backbone erect. Crazy bone is in el-
bow.
Joints. Are wherever you can bend your body.
Find as many as you can. Knee cap is over knee
joint. Feel it.
Hand. Has palm, notice its lines, thumbs, index
finger, middle finger, little finger, knuckles, nails.
Clean under nails with brush, trim them round — don't
bite them — push back skin at base of nail till white
" moon " shows.
Feet. Don't wear tight shoes.
CLOTHING
(Samples of all materials should be in hand for the
following lessons and when feasible the raw materials
and the process of manufacture should also be shown
or illustrated.)
Cotton Cloth. Is cool. Your light clothes and
some under-clothes are made of cotton cloth. Ravel
Child Training
out a thread. Cotton comes from a plant. It is white
and fluffy when it grows. It is colored with dyes.
Name as many other things as you can that are made
of cotton.
Woolen Cloth. Is warm. It costs more than cot-
ton. It is made from the hair of sheep. Ravel out
a thread. Burn a thread of this and smell it and burn
a thread of cotton and smell the difference. One
grows out of the ground and is a plant or vegetable,
the other is an animal. Wool shrinks when washed.
Linen. Is fine and durable. Your handkerchiefs
are made of it. It also is from a plant — the flax —
but is not as cheap as cotton.
Silk. Is smooth and glossy. It is spun by a cater-
pillar called the silk worm. He closes himself in with
this silk, making himself a covering that looks like a
peanut and is called a cocoon, and when he has gone to
sleep inside, men unwind the silk.
Leather. Is made from the skin of the cow. Why
are shoes made of it?
Buttons. Are made of bone and " Mother of
Pearl " which is shell
FOOD
(These lessons should be given at the table or in
the kitchen or pantry — in any case always with
samples in hand. When possible, experiments should
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be made or excursions taken to see the origin or pro-
duction of food.)
Water. Comes from springs or wells, which are
made by rain soaking through ground. Visit reser-
voir or water supply.
Milk and Cream. Come from the cow. Cream is
lighter and therefore rises to top. Anything lighter
than milk or water floats in it, anything heavier sinks.
Crumb bread into milk, it floats and is lighter. Put
salt or sugar in water, it sinks and is heavier.
Butter. Is made from cream (show process).
Milk sours and becomes clabber.
Eggs. Are laid by the hen. Hunt nest and eggs
when feasible. Other birds lay eggs too. Fish also
lay eggs.
Cereal. Oatmeal, grits, cornmeal, etc., are made
from the seeds of plants.
Bread. Is made of flour which is made of wheat
which grows in the field.
Meat. Is the flesh of animals — the cow (beef,
veal), the pig (pork, bacon, ham), the sheep (lamb,
mutton), chicken, etc.
Vegetables. Potatoes grow under ground; toma-
toes on a plant ; peas and beans in a pod, etc.
Fruits. Apples and pears, strawberries, raspberries,
etc., are fruits. Peaches and cherries have only one
seed.
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Child Training
Sugar. Comes from a plant called the sugar cane
and also from a beet.
Salt. Comes from salt sea water.
Spices. Come from plants.
(Other foods may be studied in the same way.)
FURNITURE
Chairs, tables, desks, etc. Are made of the wood
of trees, usually mahogany, oak or pine. Show one
of each kind.
Beds. The bedstead is made of wood or of metal
dug out of the ground. The mattress is stuffed with
hair or cotton to make it soft and springy,
China Plates, Cups and Saucers, Vases, etc. Are
made of clay baked. Show children a " willow ware "
blue china plate, point out the willow tree and have
them learn the old rime that describes the picture :
Two pigeons flying high,
Chinese vessel sailing by,
Weeping willow hanging o'er.
Bridge with three men, if not four.
Chinese temple, there it stands,
Seems to cover all the lands,
Apple tree with apples on,
A pretty fence to end my song.
Tell them the story of the picture.
A Chinese girl loved a poor man but her father
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wanted her to marry a rich man who loved her. The
girl and the poor man ran away across the bridge
(see them) with the father after them (see him).
But they escaped in a boat to the island (see it),
where they lived happily till the jealous, rich lover
came in a boat (see it) and set fire to their home,
from the ashes of which they arose as two pigeons
(see them).
Knives, Forks, Spoofis. Are made of iron or sil-
ver, which are metals dug out of the ground.
Stationery. What do you think pens, pencils, ink,
and — here is a hard one — paper are made of?
LIGHT
Sun. Gives light by day.
Moon and Stars. Give light by night. By day
sunlight shines in through the glass windows. What
you can see through is called transparent. What you
can't see through is called opaque.
Glass. Is transparent, but it is made of melted
sand which is opaque!
Magnifying Glass. If you take a reading glass or
any magnifying glass and let the sun shine through
it so as to make a fine spot of light on your hand or
a piece of paper, it will burn you or scorch the
paper. Try it. Long years ago people used to light
fires this way. A magnifying glass enlarges things.
A microscope enlarges small things. A telescope en-
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Child Training
larges far away things, or makes them seem nearer.
Some spectacles magnify, some twist things. Some
window panes also twist things. See if you can find
one. Look at print, a picture or your hand, through
a microscope — through a pair of spectacles. Look
at a distant object through opera glasses or a tele-
scope.
Glass Prisms. If you let the sunlight fall through
a glass prism the white light comes out separated into
six colors, red, orange, yellow, blue, green, violet.
Prove it by experiment.
Mirror. Glass with quicksilver on the back is
called a " mirror " or " looking-glass " because you
can look at yourself in it. It imitates everything you
do. Smile — it smiles back. Scowl or look cross —
it doesn't look pretty, does it? Can you see your-
self in anything else? Long time ago people used
to use bright, shiny brass or steel for mirrors. When
you go out of doors try to find a spring in which you
can see yourself. Long ago there was a vain young
man named Narcissus who spent so much time ad-
miring himself in a spring that he turned into a flower
hanging over the edge. Give the children a small
mirror — not a broken piece with which they might
cut themselves — and allow them to throw a dancing
spot of light on the walls and ceiling. Tell them the
story of the Fairy Tinker Bell who was the playmate
of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. Tinker
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was a dancing spot of light and talked by jingling
bells.
Candles, oil lamps, gas, electricity are used to give
light. Which is the best and why?
Learn this riddle for a candle :
Little Nan Etticoat,
In a white petticoat,
And a red nose;
The longer she stands,
The shorter she grows.
FIRE
Light is made by something on fire. The sun is
on fire, the candle and lamp wick are on fire, the elec-
tric lamp wire is white-hot.
The firefiy, however, gives light without being on
fire or even hot.
You can start a fire with a burning glass — then
you get your fire straight from the sun which is a ball
of fire. You can start it by striking sparks from
flint with steel, or you can start it with matches.
If you rub your hands together fast they get warm.
Try it. If you could rub sticks together fast enough
they would get afire.
Fire is used to heat houses, to cook food. Can you
think of anything else it is used for?
If you heat water long enough it will bubble.
This is boiling and when water boils it makes steam.
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Child Training
If steam is bottled up it will burst its way out. Steam
runs engines. Wood and coal with which fire is made
are called fuel.
SOUND
Stretch threads tightly across a wooden box and
twang the strings. Sound is made by rapid shaking
(vibrating). Open the piano so that the strings
show. Strike a note and touch its string gently. You
will feel the shaking and if you stop the shaking you
stop the sound. Strike a drinking glass, a bell, a
lamp globe with a pencil and stop the sound, by
touching it with your finger. Rub your finger along
the edge of a finger bowl till it gives out a note.
Stretch a string on a stick, a violin, banjo, or guitar,
and twang it as you do so. Stretch it still tighter.
The tighter the string the higher the note. Shorten
the string by " stopping " it so that only part vibrates.
The shorter the string the higher the note.
ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM
With a horse shoe magnet try picking up pins,
sticks, hairpins, cuff buttons, pens, pencils, paper,
needles and other small objects. What kind of things
will it pick dp? This is magnetism. Put a few
flakes of torn paper on the table, then rub the back
of a comb briskly over your coat sleeve and hold it
to the bits of paper. This is magnetism. Shuffle
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across the rug without Hfting your shoes, and touch
another's cheek or chin with 5^our finger. This is
electricity. Electricity rings bells, makes lights,
works the telephone. Lightning is electricity.
TIME
The clock tells what time to get up, to go to bed,
to eat our meals, to work, to play. Watch the pen-
dulum or second hand of a clock that ticks seconds,
or suspend a ring or small weight by a string 39^/2
inches long and start it swinging. No matter how
wide a 39>^ inch pendulum swings it takes one second
for a swing. Watch the second hand of a watch
or a clock go once round the face. That is a minute.
Watch the minute hand at intervals till it also has
gone round the face. That is an hour. Learn to tell
I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 12 o'clock by the short
hand.
Learn :
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
And down he run,
Hickory, dickory, dock.
Learn riddle:
When is a clock dangerous?
Ans. When it strikes one.
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Child Training
Seven days make a week.
Learn the days of the week: Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Learn :
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is born to woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child has to work for its living,
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is blithe and bonny and good and gay.
Learn the months of the year and the seasons.
Learn :
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November ;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Except the second month alone;
To it we twenty-eight assign,
Till Leap Year gives it twenty-nine.
Learn when Christmas comes, when snow, when
flowers, when rain, when wind.
HISTORY
Give child an idea of historical time. Instead of
dates speak of The Present, Little while ago, Long
ago and Long, long ago, and tell him what happened
at those times as follows :
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Present. (Tell child about two or three great men
and two or three important events.)
Little while ago. George Washington was father
of our country, the United States.
Long ago. Christ lived.
Long, long ago. Old Testament stories took place.
MEASURES OF LENGTH
This is an inch (show inch rule, and test objects
brought to be measured). Find everything you can
that is about an inch long.
This is a foot. Find everything you can that is
about a foot long.
How tall are you ? Find out.
This is a yard. How many feet in a yard? Find
everything you can that is about a yard long.
It is a mile to . Have you ever been there?
Have you ever walked there?
MEASURES OF CAPACITY
Liquid Measure:
This is a pint. See how many drinking glasses one
pint will fill.
This is a quart. See how many pints it will fill.
This is a gallon. See how many quarts it will fill.
Fill bottles, tin cans, pitchers, buckets, etc., from
these measures and see how much they will hold.
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Child Training
Let children play store using bottles filled with water
for merchandise.
Dry Measure:
Explain as above, a dry pint, dry quart, peck and
bushel.
Let the children play store using cans filled with
sand to represent sugar, peas, corn, coffee, tea, etc.
MEASURE OF WEIGHT
This is a pound. Put it on one side of a pair of
scales and find other things that will nearly balance it,
that is, weigh a pound.
Find out how much you weigh.
VERTICAL LINES
Are " standing up " lines like fence posts and tele-
graph poles.
Ask the children what other things are vertical —
themselves, when they stand erect, a lamp post, a tree,
a table leg, edge of a door, etc.
Make a "plumb line" by tying a small weight to
the end of a string two or three feet long. If the
other end is held in the fingers the line is always ver-
tical. Builders put a plumb line along side the walls
they are building to see if they are vertical. Test in
this way the edge of the picture frames on the wall,
to see if they are " hanging straight," that is, " verti-
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cally." Have the children run their fingers along all
the vertical lines they can see in the room.
HORIZONTAL LINES
Are lying down lines. Ask the children to name
all the things they can think of that are horizontal, —
themselves, when they are asleep, the floor, a telegraph
wire, etc. Have them run their fingers along all the
horizontal lines they can see in the room. Use a
" level," or improvise one by filling a tall, straight
sided bottle, or a small vial with water, all except a
bubble of air. Lay the bottle on its side and it is
horizontal when the bubble is centered. Lay this level
on objects to see if they are really horizontal.
PARALLEL LINES
Lie in the same direction. They may be parallel
vertical lines and parallel horizontal lines. Ask the
children to name all the things they can that are
parallel — gate posts (vertical parallel lines), a rail-
way (horizontal parallel lines).
ANGLES
Are corners. (Illustrate with two sticks, pencils or
rulers.) H it is a square corner it is called a right
angle. H it is bigger than a right angle it is called a
blunt angle, if less a sharp angle.
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Child Training
GEOMETRICAL FORMS
Give the children each a sheet of paper and have
them place the short edge nearest them. Ask them to
point to the front edge, back edge, right edge, left
edge. Then show them pieces of cardboard or thin
board cut in one of the geometrical forms, circle, ob-
long, triangle, about 2 inches in diameter. Tell them
the names and ask them to name other things that
are square, round (like a circle but not like a ball,
etc.), and to choose one form, asking for it, by name.
Have them then center that form on the sheet, using
only their eye to do so; then, holding it down firmly
with the fingers of the left hand, draw close round
it with a pencil, being careful that neither the form
nor pencil slips.
(From this point on most of these lessons are better
given out of doors.)
POINTS OF COMPASS
Go out of doors. Stand and face where the sun
rises. That is called " east." Hold your arms out
straight to the sides. Your right arm points south,
your left arm points north, back is toward the west.
Look at a compass. The needle is drawn to the
north by magnetism. It points north no matter in
what direction you turn the box.
If you walk straight ahead in the direction you are
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facing for a day, you would get to , if you kept
on going straight ahead for a week you would get
to , and if you kept straight ahead for a month
you would get to ,
If you walked in the same way to the sontli you
would get to .
If you walked in the same way to the nortJi you
would get to .
If you walked in the same way to the zvcst you
would get to .
TRANSPORTATION
Trains. You might go in a train cross country,
over rivers or bridges, through tunnels, or in other
ways.
Carriages, bicycles and automobiles can be used on
land.
Sleds are used over ice and snow.
Boats are used over water — canoes are made to go
by paddle ; row boats by oars ; sail boats by sails ; steam
boats by steam.
Aeroplanes and balloons are used in the air.
GEOGRAPHY
A hill you all know.
A valley is a hollow between hills.
A brook or river always nms down hill, growing
larger and larger till it reaches the ocean.
If you went up in a balloon so higli that the house
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Child Training
looked like a spot and the road like a line, imagine
how the country would look with its houses and rivers
and roads so far off, and make a picture of it in sand
or on paper. This is called a map.
If you went up still higher, so far that you could
see nothing at all on the ground, you would see as
you looked down that the earth is not flat, but a very
large ball. This is the world. A big part of it is
water, called oceans.
Away off in that direction is the Atlantic Ocean.
Away off in the other direction is the Pacific Ocean.
(Explain where Europe and Africa are, where
South America, where Asia; what races and nations
live there and how the people speak and act — that
is, their language and customs, as much as the children
are interested in or can even partly understand. It
is not unusual for children of six or even younger
to display an interest in, and real understanding
and appreciation of, the main divisions of the world
and maps, though this subject is generally supposed
to be beyond the comprehension of a child of this
age.)
RACES
A great many people in the world, but not all, are
white, like ourselves.
Many of the people are yellow with slanting eyes — ■
the Chinamen and Japanese.
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Some of the people are black with crimpy, black
hair. They are called negroes.
Some of the people are red — the Indians.
THE FAMILY
The head of your family is your father and mother.
You are their son or daughter. Their fathers and
mothers are your grandfathers and your grandmoth-
ers.
Your uncle is your father's or mother's brother.
You are his nephew or niece.
Your aunt is your father's or mother's sister.
You are her nephew or niece.
Your cousin is your uncle's or aunt's child.
GOVERNMENT
Your family and a great many other families make
your town or city and have a mayor over them.
A great many towns and cities with the land be-
tween make your State with a Governor over it.
A great many states make your country — the
United States — with a President over all.
A great many countries make the world.
Laws are rules that say what you must not do and
some of the things you must do.
Police see that you obey the laws.
Mail means letters, bundles, etc., that the govern-
ment carries. The postman brings it to you and car-
ries it away. Stamps pay for carrying the mail.
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Child Training
A Postcard costs only i cent, but you can't send a
long message on it and every one can read it.
Letters cost 2 cents usually, if sealed — i cent, if
not sealed and not written but printed.
The I cent and 2 cent stamps have a picture of
George Washington on them. Examine them.
Money is made by your country of copper, nickel,
silver, gold and paper.
The cent (examine one and find out vi^hat is on it)
is made of copper and will buy a banana, a pencil, a
newspaper. What else ?
Five cents — as many cents as you have fingers on
one hand — make a nickel. Examine one. It will
buy a loaf of bread. What else?
Ten cents or two nickels — as many cents as you
have fingers on two hands — make a dime. Examine
one. It is made of silver. Why is it worth more
than a nickel, even though smaller? What will ten
cents buy ?
A twenty-five cent piece is called a quarter. It is
silver. Examine one. Tell what it will buy.
A dollar is worth four quarters. Examine one.
If you made a pile of them as high as the ceiling it
would buy an automobile. Two piles as high as the
ceiling would buy a small house.
Close your eyes and tell which coins are which, by
feeling them when altogether and when handed you
separately.
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Make paper coins, as follows: Press a piece of
paper tightly over a real coin, and holding both steady,
nib the paper with the flat unsharpened end of a pencil
held vertically till design shows. Make a number of
each coins in this way. Cut them out with scissors
and use in playing store.
RELIGION
(Parent give own ideas and beliefs.)
OCCUPATIONS
Farmers raise food which we must have to live, so
farming is the most important of all occupations.
Manufacturers make things, such as clothing, fur-
niture, etc.
Merchants sell what the farmers raise and manu-
facturers make.
Mechanics are men who work chiefly with their
hands, such as carpenters, painters, masons, plumbers,
blacksmiths, etc.
Professional men work chiefly with their heads,
such as doctors, lawyers, ministers, teachers, artists,
musicians, authors.
What do you want to be, and why?
ASTRONOMY
The sun is a ball of fire. It will burn you if it
shines on you long. It is very, very far ofi^ and
very, very big; bigger than anything in the world;
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bigger — much bigger than the world. The sun rises
in the east and sets in the west. Drive a stake in the
open ground where the sun will shine on it all day-
long. Draw a line on the shadow or put a pebble at
the end of it every hour or so during the day. When
the shadow is shortest it is noon. At night the sun
" goes back " on the other side of the earth.
The moon is at times crescent, then half full, and
when it is entirely round — full. Like the sun it also
rises and sets. Sometimes you can see it in the day
time.
The stars are suns but so far off they seem tiny.
The Japanese flag has a sun on it, the Turkish flag
a crescent moon and a star, and the United States flag
has stars.
METEOROLOGY
A thermometer tells whether it is hot or cold. Put
it in the sun, breathe on the bulb or put it in hot water
and watch it. Put it in the shade or cold water and
watch it. What does it do when it is hot and what
does it do when it is cold?
Air is all round us though you can't see it. When
it blows, we call it wind. We can't see the wind either
but you can see what it does. It roars up the chimney,
blows smoke, shakes flags, whirls up the dust, bangs
shutters, whistles round the corners.
Ice is water made solid, that is, frozen by cold.
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Fog IS water hanging in the air.
Cloud is fog high up in the air.
Rain falls from a cloud when it is chilled. When
the sun shines while it is raining we usually see a rain-
bow. The sun goes through the rain drops as it does
through a glass prism (see lesson on Light) and comes
out in bands of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and
violet.
Learn:
Rainbow at night
Is the sailor's delight;
Rainbow in the morning,
Sailors take warning.
Hail is rain turned into ice. It starts as rain but is
frozen before it reaches the ground.
Snow is frozen cloud falling. Catch flakes on a
black cloth and see how beautiful they are.
Lightning is electricity. Once upon a time a man
named Benjamin Franklin went out doors while it
was lightning and flew a kite in the clouds. He put
a key to the end of the kite string and when he
touched the key he drew forth sparks of electricity.
Thunder is made by the lightning. Thunder can't
hurt you and it 's cowardly to be afraid of lightning.
GEOLOGY
Sandstone is rock made of sand.
Limestone is rock made of shells and bones.
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Child Training
Granite is very hard rock made by fire.
Soil is broken rock. If dead leaves, roots, etc.,
are also mixed with it, it is called loam — which is
very rich and fertile, that is, good for growing
things.
Coal is made of trees that were buried under the
earth long, long ago.
Metals are dug out of the earth.
Iron is the commonest and most useful — why, do
you think? Steel is made of it. What are iron and
steel used for? Iron will rust if not painted —
quickly if put in water or the damp, more slowly in
the air. Iron covered with tin is used for most kitchen
things.
Copper is used for cents, telephone and telegraph
wires, etc.
Brass is not dug out of the ground but is made of
copper and zinc (another metal) mixed.
Gold and silver are called precious metals because
they are very hard to get and are beautiful for jew-
elry.
Precious stones are also dug out of the earth.
The sapphire is blue.
The ruby is red.
The diamond is clear white or slightly colored and
very sparkling because it is the hardest of stones.
The pearl is not a stone but is made by the oyster in
his shell.
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(The following instruction is best given in the spring
and summer, because the subjects will then be season-
able and specimens may be easily seen.)
PLANTS
Flozvers. Take the children out on excursions to
find flowers or have them bring flowers to the class.
Tell them to name anything interesting about each
flower, and review from time to time by having them
name the flower from the specimen or picture, describe
it when given the name, or tell it with eyes closed when
it has a perfume.
Some of the flowers they should know are : *
Jack in the Pulpit May Apple
Blood Root Dandelion
Arbutus Daisy
Anemone Buttercup
Spring Beauty Laurel
Violet Chicory
Liverwort Thistle
Bluets Clover
Robin's Plantain Queen Anne's Lace
Mustard Yarrow
Flag Butter and Eggs
* The wild flowers are described and many of tlicm illustrated
so that they can be readily identified in a number of popular
books, such as " How to Know the Wild IHowers," " Nature's
Garden," etc.
Child Training
Milk Weed Cherry Blossom
Golden Rod Geranium
Aster Morning Glory-
Lilac Jonquil
Tulip Narcissus
Sweet Pea Honeysuckle
Rose Pansy
Forsythia Nasturtium
Judas' Bush Chrysanthemum
Spiraea Lilies
Apple Blossom Sunflower
Peach Blossom Carnation
Fruits. The heart of the flower goes on growing
after the other part dies and this heart becomes the
fruit. Find the tiny apple, peach, etc., after the blos-
som has withered and died.
Vegetables are fruits.
Nuts are fruits.
The apple and pear have several seeds.
The apple juice is called cider and this turns to
vinegar.
The peach, cherry and plum have but one seed.
Oranges and bananas grow in warm countries.
Some berries are the strawberry, raspberry, black-
berry.
Watermelon and canteloupe are berries.
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Grapes are used to make wine.
Fruit has seeds which, put into the ground, grow
into a plant.
Try planting a bean.
Trees. Have the children collect leaves of the most
common trees and learn to recognize the tree from the
shape of its leaf. Each child should make an outline
drawing of each leaf studied. To do this, have him
place the leaf in the center of a sheet of paper, or
better, a page of a blank book reserved for these leaf
sketches and, while holding it fast with the left hand
fingers, draw around it, being careful not to let the
leaf slip, nor the pencil get under the edge. These
outlines might afterwards be painted in with a flat
wash of water color, as described in the manual train-
ing lessons.
The leaves and trees suggested for study are : *
Maple Dogwood
Oak Poplar
Chestnut Linden
Beech Birch
Apple Sycamore
Peach Sassafras
Willow Horse Chestnut
♦"Common Trees" — by V. M. Hillyer describes and illus-
trates the leaves and tells something interesting about each tree.
Child Training
Locust
Spruce
Pine
Cedar
ANIMALS
Sponge is an animal that lives in the water when
alive, but it is a very low form as it has no feet nor
arms nor head nor eyes nor ears and cannot move from
the spot where it is attached. It has, however, a great
many mouths. All the holes you see are mouths and
inside is its stomach.
Worms are higher animals than sponges because
they have a head, eyes, ears, etc., and can move about.
They are useful, for they help the farmer. They
move about in the soil, loosening it and making it rich.
Caterpillars are not worms. Caterpillars turn into
moths or butterflies; worms never turn into anything
else.
Star Fish have five arms like a star and there is an
eye at the end of each arm. The mouth and stomach
are in the center. If one arm is cut off, the star fish
grows another arm to take its place.
Oysters and Clams have two shells hinged together
and the oyster inside can close the shells or open them
part way. Oysters cannot move, but clams have a
single foot with which they can move themselves
about.
Snails and Slugs. A snail carries its shell on its
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back and withdraws into it when frightened. Slugs
are snails without shells. In some countries people eat
snails as we do oysters and clams.
Lobsters and Crabs are green when alive, but become
red when boiled. Once a year tiiey leave their old
shells and the soft skin then hardens to fonn a new
shell to take the place of the old.
Insects. Flies, butterflies, moths, ants, bees, mos-
quitoes, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles and spiders are
called insects. All insects except the spiders and
thousand legs have six feet.
Flies carry disease and therefore should be killed.
The " blue bottle " is a big fly with a noisy buzz. The
horse fly is a very big fly that sucks the blood of
horses. The dragon fly is born on the water, but lives
in the air. It eats insects, but is harmless to us. The
May fly is born in the water and dies the day it flies in
the air.
Butterflies lay eggs, the eggs hatch into cater-
pillars, which feed on leaves. The caterpillar then
makes a cocoon about himself and goes to sleep inside
and finally comes out a butterfly.
Moths grow in much the same way as butterflies.
Some small moths eat woolen clothes and destroy
plants and trees.
Ants are the most intelligent of all insects; they
work in gangs, build ant hills and store up food. They
have armies and go to war against other ants. The^'
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Child Training
even have a kind of insect cow which they '' milk."
They are able to talk to each other and tell where food
is, where danger lies, and so forth. The red ants often
capture the black ants and make them work for them.
You must not leave any food around for the ants will
soon find it out and come after it.
Bees and ants are very hard workers, that is why we
say " as busy as a bee." The bees gather the sweet
juice of the flowers and make it into honey for their
food. They store this in the honey comb which they
make of wax. The bees' house is called a hive and in
a hive there are three kinds of bees, the Queen bee, the
Workers and the Drones. The Queen bee lays all
the eggs. Of the Workers, some gather honey,
some make the honey comb, some act as police,
some as house maids, cleaning and keeping the hive
in order, some as waiters. Only the Drones do
nothing. In the autumn all die except the Queen bee,
who lives through the winter and lays her eggs in the
spring.
Mosquitoes are born on still water and if there are
no ponds nor puddles, we will have no mosquitoes.
Only the female mosquito bites.
The Cricket is supposed to bring good luck to the
house. Its song starts in the autumn toward evening
and continues into the night. They are great leapers.
If you could jump as high for your size, you could
jump over the house.
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The Grasshopper and the Locust in some countries
fly over the land in such large numbers they seem like
a cloud and they eat every live thing in their path, de-
stroying crops entirely. Read Plague in Egypt de-
scribed in Bible (Exodus, x, 12-19).
The Spider spins a cobweb for a net to catch other
insects which it feeds on. Once upon a time a beauti-
ful maiden named Arachne boasted that she could spin
better than the gods. For this she was turned into a
spider and made to keep on spinning forever. Some
spiders bite or sting.
The Daddy-long-legs looks like a very long legged
spider with a small body, but it makes no cobweb and
is harmless.
Thousand-legs or centipedes have really only about
twenty pairs of feet.
Beetles are both good and bad. The lady-bug, also
called lady-bird, is a good beetle. It is a little red,
brown or black beetle with spots of bright colors. It
eats insects that harm the plants. Learn:
Lady bird ! lady bird !
Fly away home;
Your house is on fire,
Your children will burn.
The potato bug is a beetle that harms the potato
plant.
The firefly and glow worm are little beetles. Cages
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Child Training
filled with them are used for lanterns in some countries.
The light of the firefly, unlike other light, is cold.
Fish are the first of the animals we have studied that
have a back bone. The higher animals all have back-
bones. The fish, however, has cold blood, not warm
like birds and dogs. They are covered with scales
and breathe water through gills. They swim through
the water and steer themselves with the tail and
fins.
The whale is not a fish, though it lives in the water,
for it must come up to get air to breathe.
Some fish can only live in salt water, some only in
fresh.
A fish's eggs are called roe. A number of fish to-
Sfether in the water is called a school of fish.
The shark is one of the most dangerous fish in the
sea.
The eel looks like a snake, but it is not ; it is a fish
and is good for food.
Frogs have back bones. They can live on both the
water and land and they lay eggs in the water. The
eggs hatch into little fish called tadpoles, and finally,
the tadpole loses its tail and turns into a frog.
Toads match the stones or ground, or bark if they
live on trees, so that the snakes and birds who would
eat them, cannot find them. Toads eat insects that are
harmful, so they are good for the farmer and should
not be killed or hurt. They do not make warts, as was
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once thought, though they should not be touched or
handled.
Reptiles. Snakes, turtles, alligators, etc., are called
reptiles. Reptiles have a back bone and cold blood.
Some snakes are very poisonous.
There are both land and water turtles. The land
turtle is called a tortoise. It is used for food; its
shell is used for making tortoise shell combs and other
articles.
The lizard has a very brittle tail, which it easily
loses, but when broken off, another grows in its place.
The chameleon is a little lizard that rapidly changes
its color to match the surroundings. The alligator
and crocodile are huge lizards.
Birds have a back bone, but, unlike all the ani-
mals studied before, are warm blooded. The higher
animals have back bones ; the highest animals have
back bones and are warm blooded. The female bird
lays the eggs and sits on them till they hatch into young
birds. The male bird finds the food and feeds them.
The stem of feathers is called the quill. Quills were
once used for pens before steel pens were made. Birds
that live in the water are web-footed, that is, have skin
between the toes so that they can paddle and swim.
Ducks do not have to learn how to swim, they take
to the water naturally. Chickens cannot swim because
they are not web-footed, and they will not go into the
water.
263
Child Training
Parrots can be taught to speak.
Hawks prey upon other birds.
Owls destroy rats and mice. They are supposed to
be very wise, so we say, " As wise as an owl."
The condor is the largest bird that flies. Its wings
spread out to twice the height of a man.
The ostrich is the largest bird. Ostriches can run
very fast and men have ridden on them as on horse-
back. They are very foolish birds. When afraid
they put their heads in the ground and, as they can-
not then see, they think they cannot be seen. Their
feathers are used for hat plumes. They lay eggs as
big as a baby's head.
The peacock has a wonderfully colored tail and
walks with such a strut that we say, " Proud as a pea-
cock."
Doves are supposed to be very loving, so we say,
" As loving as doves."
Sea gulls live by the seashore ; they can fly far and
fast.
The eagle is a strong, bold and daring bird. It
builds its nest in inaccessible spots. The eagle is our
national bird. It is on several of our coins.
The carrier pigeon is so attached to home that people
use him to send messages. They take him away from
his home, tie a message to his leg and then release him.
He will fly back to his home, even if he has been carried
hundreds of miles from it.
264
Information
Mammals are animals that nurse their babies with
milk. They are the highest kind of animal. We are
mammals, as are also all the following animals.
Whales, though they live in the water, are not fish,
for they have warm blood, no scales, must have air to
breathe and nurse their young. Seals, though they
also live in the water, are mammals.
The kangaroo carries its baby in a pouch in front.
The pig is the dirtiest and greediest of animals.
The hippopotamus is a huge animal of the same fam-
ily.
Conundrum : " When is a boy not a boy ? "
Ans. " When he is a pig."
The elephant is the largest animal on the earth. He
can be made to carry great loads on his back and with
his trunk. The male elephant has two enormous teeth
called tusks.
Animals that chew the cud are those that swallow
their food first and then chew afterwards. They
have two toes. The following chew the cud. A camel
has two humps. A dromedary has one hump. The
deer has branched horns. The sheep is shorn for his
wool. The goat is kept in some countries for his
milk. The cow is the most useful of all domestic ani-
mals. She gives milk and cream from which butter
and cheese are made. Her hide is used for leather and
her flesh for meat.
Herbivorous animals are those that eat only grass or
265
Child Training
plant life. The following animals are herbivorous.
The horse has but one toe — a hoof. The rabbit likes
young and tender leaves. The squirrel eats nuts which
he gathers and stores for the winter. Rats and mice
eat grain. The porcupine has quills all over his
back.
Carnivorous animals are those that eat only, or
chiefly, meat. The following animals are carnivorous.
Cats like places rather than people and will return
to their home after they have been carried away. They
have cushions on their toes so that they can creep noise-
lessly upon their prey. When they are angry their
claws appear and they w^ag their tails and arch their
backs. When they are pleased they purr.
Tigers and lions are only very large wild cats.
Dogs are the most intelligent of all animals. They
have a very powerful sense of smell by which they can
track their master or animals for long distances. They
like people rather than places and become firm friends
— saving children from drowning, guarding the house
against thieves, etc. Cats and dogs are natural ene-
mies — the dog fights the cat and the cat either flees or
stands its ground.
The wolf and fox belong to the same family. Bears
sleep through the whole winter. The polar bear is
white to match the snow where he lives, so that he can
not easily be seen by his prey when he is hunting for
food.
266
Information
Bats are not birds at all. They are covered with
fur — not feathers. Their wings are merely skin
stretched between their fingers. They sleep in the
daytime and fly at night. Learn the rime,
Bat, bat,
Come under my hat,
And I '11 give you a slice of bacon ;
And when I bake,
I '11 give you a cake.
If I am not mistaken.
Monkeys have a skeleton almost exactly like man's.
They use their feet just as if they were hands.
Man is the only animal that naturally walks up-
right. Do you always walk upright?
267
READING AND WRITING
When the child is about six years of age, or has
finished the previous course of training, he may begin
to write and read. If, however, the following work
proves too much of an ordeal, or if he is uninterested,
it is a sign that he is still too young and after a fair
trial the work should be postponed.
If a child is inquisitive or shows curiosity about
words or letters that appear conspicuously on bill
boards, street signs, newspaper headings, etc., asking
what letter that is or what such and such printed
words mean, or tries to write letters or figures, not
merely to scribble, thereby displaying an interest in the
language arts, it is usually a pretty good symptom that
he is ready for instruction in these branches.
Aristotle says : " The way to learn to play the harp
is to play the harp."
Likewise the way to learn to write is to write — not
to begin with arm movements, up and down strokes,
or even practice letters, but to write as one thinks and
speaks — in words and sentences. No indirect method
of approach is as satisfactory as this. It is the
" Royal Road," * the pleasantest and shortest. But
* Royal Road to Reading and Writing by V. M. Hillyer.
268
Reading and Writing
one who has never seen such a method tried, might ob-
ject, " A child just beginning does not know his al-
phabet, nor how to write a single letter, to say nothing
of words and sentences." Very true, and yet no nor-
mal child of six or seven, properly taught by this
method, has ever failed to write sentences from the
start, much to the amazement of parents and confound-
ing of preconceived ideas on the subject.
Following are given the 50 Basal sentences that are
first to be taught. They are not penmanship copies
but models for the teacher who teaches them as
directed below. The arrangement is not alphabetical
— nor is it arranged according to letter forms,
but according to the common words the child uses
every day and will need to use in any writing or
composition he does. The vocabulary is small, about
160 words, not guessed at but chosen after actual com-
putation of the number of times a word is used by a
child of six. They are, therefore, from the simplest
categories and those most frequently used, — Work and
Play, Time and Space, Quality and Quantity, Family
Relations, etc. These words should, of course, be only
the beginning, as a child of six already has a knowl-
edge of more than a thousand words, but it is the ob-
ject of this method to teach the children these basal
words, so that they can write, read and spell them per-
fectly, thus forming a sure foundation; other words
they will acquire as the necessity arises, if the ele-
269
Child Training
mental ones are at their finger tips and the sounds of
the various combinations of letters are inseparably as-
sociated with the written form.
As will be seen, the written letter-forms of the
models approximate print. They are not print, how-
ever, but the simplest form of script, conforming as
closely as is practicable to the historic letters. This
alphabet has five advantages :
(i) On account of its simplicity, it is naturally the
most legible;
(2) It is also the most rapid, as it is freed from all
superfluous strokes;
(3) It is the easiest to learn on account of its simple
lines;
(4) The child having learned the script can read
print with little if any further study, as the two are so
nearly alike;
(5) His own individuality and character can and
will be imposed upon the writing as he progresses. If
he learns the complex forms, with scrolls and tails
which some one else has added to the original historic
forms, he must throw these away, go back to first prin-
ciples and start anew before he can form a hand dis-
tinctly his own.
Whether the writing is vertical, medial or slanting is
not a question for the beginner. It is as natural for
rapid writing to slant as for a runner to lean forward,
but when a child is first learning to walk, he is not
270
Reading and Writing
taught to lean forward. A slight slant called " Me-
dial " is not objectionable, and each pupil will gradu-
ally tilt his letters in the direction of the writing as he
gains in facility, if he is allowed to do so, but he should
not be embarrassed with an artificial slant when taking
his first steps.
Large writing is to be expected at first (the capitals
not less than one inch high, the small letters one-half
inch), as the finer muscles of the fingers are still un-
developed and badly controlled. As the child gains
command of these muscles, however, the writing may
and should become smaller, and accordingly it will be
noticed that the copies are gradually reduced in size.
For a similar reason there are no confusing guiding
lines to embarrass the beginner and restrict his free-
dom.
DIRECTIONS
Ask each pupil to watch and listen while you write
something for him.
( I ) Then write slowly on the blackboard, or in case
of an individual pupil, on a sheet of paper, in a very
large hand, imitating the writing given on p. 278.
I see a
In place of a word at the end, make with two or
three strokes a quick, simple sketch of some common
object, for example, a ball, a cup, a ladder, a flag, etc.
271
Child Training
Pronounce each word very slowly, drawling it, as you
do so.
(2) Ask each pupil to read what you have written.
This he can do as the words will still be ringing in his
ears.
(3) Write again and have each pupil follow the
writing with his index finger as if it were a pencil.
Say nothing about the individual letters or their
names ; merely describe the direction the lines take and
have each pupil devote his sole attention to the forma-
tion of the writing. Re- write the sentence in this way
several times, making a different sketch of the object
"I see" each time, then,
(4) Give each pupil a crayon and ask him to zvrite
the sentence on a blackboard, or sheet of blank paper,
pronouncing each word as he does so.
Each pupil's first attempt may be almost an inde-
cipherable scrawl and anything but a good copy, but do
not be impatient or discouraged with the first results.
(5) Call attention to the proper form of any letter
illegibly written thus :
" This letter (point to the capital I) which says * I '
stands up straight as I do.
" To make this word which says ' see ' you start off
and up, then turn down and back (the s), then make
two little eyes to see with (the two e's), and so on."
Children usually have difficulty at first in making
loops like e, 1, h, etc., simply because the hand tends
272
Reading and Writing
always to go forward and it is unnatural to turn back,
as is necessary in such loops. Have the child write
the sentences over and over and over again, using dif-
ferent colored crayon each time to give added zest and
keep the interest fresh.
Keep him practising this initial sentence, both with
and without the copy, until it is readable, even if it
takes several days. Do not, of course, limit him to a
single sheet, let him write on all the scrap paper he
can find. If a child can find none, as soon as he feels
he is really writing, writing something that every one
can read, he will write on your specially reserved sta-
tionery, the walls and floors of the house, the doors
and fences, even on the ground. When he has finally
succeeded, and not until then, go to the next sentence
and teach him to write this in the same way.
To recapitulate, the method to be used for each suc-
cessive sentence is :
(l) Write the sentence very slowly, and as you do
so, drawl each word so as to sound the individual let-
ters.
(2) Have the pupil read your copy, also drawling
the words.
(3) Have him practise writing the copy, drawling
each word aloud as he writes it.
(4) Have him write the sentence from memory
without a copy.
Great care should be used to have the pupil take the
27Z
Child Training
proper position while writing. He should sit facing
front, squarely on his seat, not on the edge, the light
coming from the left side or over his left shoulder, the
inside of his elbows on a level with the top of the desk,
head up, crayon held lightly between thumb and first
two fingers, one inch from point. Each pupil should
be taught to hold his pencil in the correct way at the
start, for it is almost impossible to change the manner
of holding the pencil after a certain habit is acquired.
The pencil should be held lightly about an inch from
the point between the thumb and first two fingers. On
account of the difficulty in control referred to above,
the natural tendency of the pupil will be to grip the
pencil. Every effort should be made to lessen this
strangle hold as soon as possible. The important thing
to insist on, however, is that the first finger is rounded
up and that nothing touches the writing surface except
the 4th and 5th finger tips, and the muscles of the
lower arm — not the side of hand nor the side of the
fingers nor the wrist. The paper should be directly in
front, but turned slightly, so that the lower edge makes
an angle of about 45° with the edge of the desk, and
should be held in place by the left hand. The right
hand should rest lightly on the fourth and fifth fingers,
and the arm be supported by the muscles of the lower
arm ; the wrist should not touch.
When the sentence which reads, " My name is
" and " Your loving son, ," is reached,
274
Reading and Writing
fill in the space with a good copy of the pupil's name
and have him practise writing his signature. Call at-
tention to the difference in size and shape of the letters
that begin a sentence — the capitals — and those else-
where, for to the pupil they are apparently different
letters. Explain when a question mark is used and
when a period. Have each pupil always do his best,
but do not expect exact or perfect copies at first; if
they are readable, it is satisfactory.
On the reverse of each sheet, after the first, each
pupil should write a composition using only the words
he has learned to write, but just as many of those as
he can, varying their order to make different sentences.
Thus, after the third sentence, he will have a vocabu-
lary of seven words, which he can write and read.
These can be combined in different ways, which he
should suggest, to make, beside the original sentences,
several others, thus forming a " composition." Each
so-called " composition " will at first, therefore, consist
merely of sentences in which all the changes are rung
on the words learned, but each sentence should have
a little more variety and extent as the new words are
learned and become available. The " compositions "
based on the first twenty sentences should be in the
nature of a dialogue — question and answer — in the
" primer " style suggested by the models. Those based
on the next twenty should be notes or letters — the
most valuable, important and universally demanded
275
Child Training
kind of composition. Those based on the last ten may-
be the usual descriptive and narrative composition.
As each pupil progresses, he should be encouraged
to write as fully as he can, using all the words he has
learned that he can weave into sentences.
If a pupil needs additional words and asks for them,
give them to him as new copy, but sparingly and not
until he has need for them and has exhausted those he
has already learned. Crayon may be used for the
penmanship practice, but only pencil for the composi-
tion. All the copies and the compositions the pupils
write should be saved, and re-read by them. Compo-
sitions should be exchanged and each pupil should read
the other's.
In teaching the new sentence, if each word is
sounded very slowly, letter by letter as far as possi-
ble, as previously directed, and each pupil does the
same, when he writes, he will in this way gradually
and unconsciously but surely, learn the sounds of each
group of letters and thus acquire the key to reading
new words as well as the old. This sounding of the
letters and syllables is most important and the great-
est emphasis should be laid upon it from the start.
As each pupil learns to write each sentence, it fol-
lows that he learns the spelling of the words at the same
time, for he learns to know and recognize the letter
forms and the order in which they come, but without
necessarily knowing their names. Learning their
276
Reading and Writing
names is a simple matter if the letters are incidentally
referred to by their names when attention is called to
their forms in the penmanship practice. In this way,
therefore, penmanship, composition, reading and spell-
ing will be learned altogether.
The copies have been written free hand, not drawn
or engraved, and it is, therefore, possible for pupils
to write equally well.
277
Child Training
BASAL SENTENCES
(The following sentences are to be written with
capitals one inch, small letters one-half inch:)
The following copies are from " Royal Road to
Writing," copyright, by V. M. Hillyer:
AtMJ/OU/.
1
(jmUyMyTfU/
?
AUyO/
cnw mwMh
;t,?
278
Reading and Writing
t Uv 0/ hn I
JyUuM/iUJWVvxMl
fuAlACO
[A uouA/ m/mi:
7
M
m/nw uv
379
Child Training
I
mwpmM
liru/?
Uj
DA
vm
?
0.
I V. I
uhJu.
yhAv (Mly \MMAyt}[maA
?
280
Reading and Writing
T;
oM/cwmwy.
cwi/mwa/n/u d
0/ coAy a/nxx/ 0/
m/m
iMoml
I Tl/OA CO rWZb MMIV.
281
Child Training
(The following sentences are to be written with cap-
itals ^ of an inch, small letters ^ of an inch :)
Wlot a/w iMw am/m ta cLj '{um'^.
\jmb(Mn/m
my cmm ta umli/ o/ wJjUb.
DmJb mAhjb, WmoAv mihi
?
AOTL/.
])\Aj\mhaj^ mJUA/i
282
Reading and Writing
m fi/Mmw Ou Imh \lmw hjuu.
UwridaM \ cww duAAjCAV,
yionAmj I urniL (^ItcfMliwl.
'TmJKA/m \L AmmiAy cM/ (MW
\JmfmJ)dum llw MM/ oamw auly.
283
Child Training
^hjiAAcLoAA it ura(y Wvu Twt.
[
\aA/mj I toryh Ou Aruyil uralL.
Ootu/iAn/u ( plnAjui all mjolmi^
n thy omMwrnv I Xovhy Ou JuAju,
\jjJ:M^ I umit djovnv t/yunv.
284
Reading and Writing
o-dcwi I rwoAh MrwuM/nn :^ mvu
V^QAi nwM/ I tlummil (jy mw.
ivajtv WMb CO daAIm cwml ^!jmj^
Wb mw Mh WW rruvoh/.
\l
oAiy ajrnm/Ji hjjcL Aamy.
28s
Child Training
(The following sentences are to be written with cap-
itals one-half inch, small letters one- fourth inch:)
0\jiAy ^vcmMy M/^ arbtmytan^ ot cu-rult.
Up^ifcx/t/iA umAjiA/ tfu/ Axrut i6/ nu| vuiMnmo,
OwyUwwuU/oAv p^x>ti^^uA. oi wi^
3u Uvb dxnfi/ cUw cty cawjA amxL Oy taJAjiy.
I WW to- -Wfc out oi tkb wvndour.
286
Reading and Writing
locuriy AUyUrUy Au/r\yAdy aWi/Uiv lAjjAy.
Ylvi iuAtiAyb/ ruJAwtluAAy Amro/ iwxtto irwruy.
Atv old/ oJ/ych^ AtamAA^ \jr\y tfw tulVL.
I Uwnhy I nmxrur \wur to- hit tmuy.
frrb cmiAj Ai/%/ iwaAA/ old iMxt ! cmm/ amuL.
287
INDEX
INDEX
Accordion (paper work), 206
Accuracy, 81, 186
Acting a Picture, 54
Acting, Two Part, 64
Action in Stories, no
Adenoid Growths, 132
Air, 252
Altering Card, 50
Ambidexterity, 189
Ambition, xxv
Angles, 245
Animals, 258 fif
Answering Three Questions, 75,
Ants, 259
Appeal to Right, xxiii
Apple (modeling), 190
" April Showers," 154
Arranging Colors, 45, 46
Arteries, 232
" As I was going to St. Ives,"
153
" As round as an apple," 68
Associating Ideas, 65, 66
Association Drills, 65 ff
Astigmatism, 121
Astronomy, 251
"At Ease" Position, 128, 129
Athletic Plays, 174 ff
Attention Drills, 72 ff
" Ba-a, ba-a, black sheep," 142
Baby Talk, 102
Ball (modeling), igo
Balloons (drawing), 197
Balloons (painting), 198
Baric Sense, 41
Barn (paper work), 202
Basal Sentences, 278 ff
Bats, 267
" Bat, bat," 267
Baths, 120
Bean Bag, 181
Bear, 266
Bed (paper work), 206
Beds, 236
Bees, 260
Beetles, 261
Bells, Suspended, 175
Birds, 263
" Blind Man's Buff," 40
Bluebird (painting), 195
Boat (modeling), 193
Body, The, 230 ff
Bogies, 108, no
Bone, 233
Books (paper work), 202
Bow and Arrow (drawing),
212
" Bow, wow, wow," 153
Brain Paths, xv
Brain Power, xv
Brass, 254
" Brave" (song), 167
Bread, 235
Breaking Habits, 82
Breathing, 129, 132
" Brow bender," 230
Butterflies, 259
" Bye baby Bunting," 143
291
Index
Calisthenic Drills, 129 ff
Camel, 265
Candle, 239
Candle (drawing), 200
Candlestick (modeling), 193
Capacity, Measures of, 243
Capital Letters, 275
Carnivorous Animals, 266
"Cat and Rat" (game), 179
Cats, 266
Cat's Cradle, 209
Case (paper work), 205
Cereal, 235
Chain (modeling), 193
Chains (paper work), 201
Chairs, etc., 236
Charades, 64
Chest, 232
China, 236
Christmas, 213
Church (drawing), 199
Clams, 258
Clay Work, 190 flf
Cleaning up Room, 32
Clothing, 233, 234
Cloud, 253
Coal, 254
Color Finding, 48
Colors, Three Primary, 193
Color Work, 193 ff
Common Courtesies, 88 ff
Compass, Points of, 246
Composition, 275, 276
Concentration, xxxii ff, 186
Concentration Drills, 73 ff
Conditions for Training, xvii
Conumdrums, 67, 68
Conversation, 90 ff
Conversation Rules, 93
Conversation, Two Minute, 69
Cooking, 220
Copper, 254
Cornucopias, 212
Corporal Punishment, xxix
Cotton Cloth, 232
Counting and Clapping, yy
Courage, 82
Course of Training Outlined,
xviii, xix
Courtesy, 81
Cow, 265
Crabs, 259
Cradle (paper work), 206
Cream, 235
Cricket, 260
Criticizing Incongruities,. 54, 55
Crown (paper work), 205
Cube (modeling), 191
Cup and Saucer (modeling),
193
Curls (paper work), 208
" Curly locks ! Curly locks I "
145
Cylinder (modeling), 191
Daddy-long-legs, 261
Daffy-down-dilly, 142
Dangerous Plays, 171
Dart (paper work), 203
Days of the Week, 242
Deer, 265
Describing a Child, 51
Describing a Person, 51
Describing a Picture, 52
Design (paper work), 203, 204
Diamond, 254
Diet, 121
" Ding dong, bell ! " 148
Dogs, 266
Dolls, 178
Double Boat (paper work), 208
Doves, 264
Drawing Out, 225, 226
Dromedary, 265
Dropping Medicine, 74
Drum (modeling), 191
292
Index
Ducks, 263
Duties, 30, 31
Eagle, 264
Ear, 232
" Early to bed," 154
Eel, 262
" Eeney, meeny, miney, mo,"
179
Egg (modeling), 192
Eggs, 235
Electricity, 240
Elephant, 265
Emulation, xxv
Enimciation, loi
Envelope (paper work), 215
Exercises (physical), 123 fif
Eye, 231
Eyes, Care of, 121
Faces (drawing), 201
Fairy Tales, 108
Family, The, 249
Fan (paper work), 203
Fanciful Tales, 107, 108
"Farmer in the Dell" (song),
166
Fatigue, 124, 129
Feeling Fabrics, . .
Feeling Materials, 40
Feeling Paper, 42
Feet, 233
Finding and Replacing, 43, 44
Finding and Replacing, Rapid,
45
Finding Book, 45
Finding Hidden Pictures, 55
Finding in the Dark, 41, 42
Finding, Rapid, 44
Fire, 239
Firefly, 261
Fish, 262
Flat Foot, 127
Flies, 259
Flowers (drawing), 199
Flowers, 255, 256
Fog, 253
Folk Dances, 163
Food, 234 ff
Foot Stool (paper work), 202
Forehead, 231
" For every evil under the sun,"
159
Fork (paper work), 208
Forms, Geometrical, 246
" For want of a nail," 159
Fox, 266
Frame (paper work), 204
Fresh Air, 120
Frogs, 262
Fruits, 235, 256
Fruits (drawing), 198
Furniture (drawing), 199
Furniture, 236 ff
Furniture, Bedroom (draw-
ing), 200
Furnishings, Table (drawing),
199
Free Play, 171
Games, 174
with Apparatus, 181
without Apparatus, 179
Generalities, 91
Geography, 247
Geology, 253
Glass, 237
Magnifying, 237
Goat, 265
" Going to Jerusalem," 180
Gold, 254
Good Humor, 225
" Goosey, goosey, gander," 157
Goody-Goody Talcs, xxv
Government, 249
Granite, 254
293
Index
Grasshopper, 261
Greetings, 86
Group Training, xvii
Growth, Table of, 123
Gull, 264
Guessing Picture, 53
Habits, Breaking of, 11 ff
Habit Drills, 3 ff, 81
Habits, Forming, 7 ff
Good and Bad, 5, 6
Nature of, 3 ff
Repetition, 7
Voluntary and Involuntary, 8
Hail, 253
Hand, 233
Hardening, 119, 120
Haste, xxxi
Head, 231
Health Requisites, 119
Hat (modehng), 193
Hat (paper work), 215
Hearing Simultaneous Orders,
79
Heart, 232
Hearts (paper work), 215
" He can do little," 57, S8
Height, Table of, 123
Herbivorous Animals, 265, 266
"Here we go Round the Mul-
berry Bush" (song), 166
Hero Stories, 107
"Hey, diddle, diddle," 142;
(song), 165
" Hickory, dickory, dock," 147,
241
Hide and Seek, 180
High Rail, 174
History, 242, 243
Holly, 214
Honors, xxx
Hoops, 176
Horse, 266
Horseshoe (modeling), 193
House (paper work), 202
House (modeling), 191
Houses (drawing), 199
Housekeeping, 219
How to Study, 36, 223, 224
Humorous Stories, 107
" Humpty Dumpty," 69
Hunting Coin, 50
" Hush a bye baby," 149
Ice, 252
" If all the seas were one sea ! "
158
" If all the world were apple
pie," 147
" If wishes were horses," 158
" I had a little pony," 143
" I '11 tell you a story," 145
Imaginary Scene, 71
Imagination Drills, 70 ff
Imitating, 63, 64
Imitation Drills, 6^ ff
Imitative Plays, 177*
Independence, 187
Independent Recitation, 228
Indian-Footed, 127
Industry, 81
Information, 92, 223 ff
Informational Stories, 109
Inhibition, 22
Initiative, 81
Insects, 259 ff
Instruction, Method of, 224 ff
Intonation, 100
Introducing, 89
Iron, 254
"I won't," xxviii
"Jack and Jill," 144
"Jack Sprat," 147
" Jack Straws," 73, 74
Joints, 233
294
Index
Jumping off place, 174
Jumping Rope, 136
Kangaroo, 265
Knives, 237
Kjiot, Blood, 209
Bow, 210
Chain, 211
Figure 8, 210
" Granny," 210
Overhand, 209
Reef, 210
Slip, 211
Twist, 211
Knotting, 209 ff
Bead, 212
Ladder, Horizontal, 176
" Lady bird ! lady bird ! " 261
Lamp (drawing), 200
Lamplighter (paper work), 208
Lantern (paper work), 201
Leaf (painting), 195
Leather, 234
Left Handedness, 187, 188
Lemon (painting), 195
Lemon (modeling), 192
Length, Measures of, 243
Lesson, Sample, 226
Light, 2Z-7 ff
Lightning, 253
Limestone, 253
Linen, 234
Lines, Horizontal, 245
Parallel, 245
Vertical, 244
Lion, 266
Lisping, 104
"Little Bo-peep," 141, 142;
(song), 165
"Little Boy Blue," 143
" Little fishey in a brook," 149
" Little Jack Horner," 143
" Little Miss Muffett," 142
"Little Nan Etticoat," 239
"Little Tom Tucker," 144
Lizard, 263
Lobsters, 259
Magnetism, 240
Mail, 249
Make Believe, 70, 71, 72
Mammals, 265
Man, 267
Manual Plays, 174, 176, 177
[Manual Training, 185 ff
Marching, 132, 133. 134
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,"
145
Matching Fabrics, 46
Matching Notes, 62
Meals, 121
Meat, 2y:,
Tilemorizing, 78, 79
Memory Training, xv
Mental Suggestion, xxiv
Mental Training, xv
Merry-go-Round, 176
Messages, Carrying, 27, 28
Meteorology, 252
Milk, 235
Mirror, 238
Mitten (painting), 194
"Monday's Child," 242
Money, 250
Monkeys, 267
Moon, 237, 252
Moral Training, xxii ff
Mosquitoes, 260
Moths, 259
Mouth, 232
Mud Pies, 212
Muscle, 233
Muscular Sense, 41, 42
"My Shadow" (song), 168
Mystery in Stories, no
295
Index
Nagging, 9
Napkins (paper work), 208
Natural Consequences, xxix
Natural Plays, 171
Nearsightedness, 121
Neatness, 186
Nerve Cells, xv
Nest (modeling), 192
Nose, 232
Nose Pincher (paper work),
207
Obedience Drills, I4flf
Obedience, Necessity of, 14
Observation Drills, 35 fif
Object Seeing, 42
Observing Changes, 51, 52
Observing Neighborhood, 55, 56
Obstacle Race, 135
Occupations, 218 fif, 251
"Old King Cole," 145
" Old Mother Twitchett," 68
" One mdsty, moisty morning,"
147
" One, two, buckle my shoe,"
153
Open Air, 120
Opinions, 92
Orange (painting), 194
Order, 186
Order and Neatness Drills,
32 ff
Orders, Double, 23
Double Deferred, 23
Future, 29
Judgment, 27
Time, 28, 30
Ostrich, 264
Outdoor Occupations, 220
Over Habituation, 11
Owls, 264
Oysters, 258
Pantomime, 63
Paper Folding and Cutting, 201
" Patty-a-cake, Patty-a-cake,"
141
Peacock, 264
Pear (modeling), 193
Pearl, 254
" Pease porridge hot," 152
Periods, xxxv, xxxvi
" Peter Piper," 147
"Peter White," 158
Philopena, 78
Physical Training, ii9fif
Pig, 265
Pigeon, 264
Pillow Fighting, 172
Pillow, Use of, 128
Pin Wheel (paper work), 204
Plaiting, 211
Plants, 255 fif
Play House, A, 178
Poinsettia Leaves (paper
work), 214
"Polite" (song), 167
Porcupine, 266
Posing as a Picture, 53, 54
Posture, 125
Potato (modeling), 191
Pouring in and Drawing out,
225, 226
Presentation, 224, 225
Prisms, Glass, 238
Prizes, xxx
Programs, xxxv, xxxvi
Prohibitions, 22, 24, 25, 28,
29
Punctuality, 86
Punctuation, 275
Punishments, xxv
Punning, 67
" Pussy cat, pussy cat," 143
" Pussy wants a corner," 180
Putting things in place, 32
296
Index
Quiet Orders, 19
Quiz Questions, 229, 230
Quoits, 181
Races, 248
Rain, 253
Rainbow (painting), 196
" Rainbow at Night," 253
Rapid Copying, 74, 75
Rats, 266
Reaction, 225, 226
Reaction Time, xxxi
Reading and Writing, 268 ff
Reciting and Counting, 78
Religious Exercises, 87
Repeating List, 79
Repetition in Stories, no
Reptiles, 263-
Rewards, xxx
Rhythmic Arts, 141 flf
" Ride a cock-horse," 152
Riddles, 68, 69
Right, Appeal to, xxiii
Rimes, 141 ff
Riming, 66
Romancing, 71
Rope, Climbing, 175
Jumping, 176
Round Shoulders, 128
Routine of Training, xx
Running, 135
Running Wild, 119
Salt, 236
Salt Cellar (paper work), 207
Sand Pile, 178
Sandstone, 253
School Subjects, 223
Scolding, xxix
Screen (paper work), 202
Seals, 265
Secret Keeping, 25, 26
Selecting Material, 46, 47
Self Punishment, xxvi, xxvii
Self Respect, xxiii, xxiv, xxix
Sense Training, xv
Setting Belongings in Order, 34
Setting Cupboard in Order, 34
Setting Desk in Order, 33
Setting Room in Order, 22
Setting Table, 34
Sewing, 219
Sex, xiv
Shaming, xxix
Shark, 262
Sheep, 265
Shields (paper work), 215
" Shop Window," 48, 49
Shovel (paper work), 208
Sight Seeing, 49, 50
Silk, 234
Silver, 254
" Simon Says Thumbs Up," 29
Simple Deferred Orders, 21
Simple Orders, 16 ff, 20
" Simple Simon," 144
" Sing a song of sixpence," 148
Singing Games, 162, 163
Singing the Scale, 62
Sitting Postures, 126
Skipping, 134
Slanting Writing, 270, 271
Sleep, 120
Sleeping Positions, 128
Slide, Foot, 175
Sliding, 173
Sliding Board, 174
Smelling, 38
Snails, 258
"Snake" (game), 180
Snakes, 263
" Sneeze on Monday," 158
Snow, 253
Social Intercourse, 85
Soil, 254
" Solomon Grundy," 158
297
Index
" Some little mice," 144
Songs, 160 ff
Sorting Books, 33
Sorting Miscellaneous Articles,
33
Sorting Papers, 33
Sound, 240
Sounding Words, 276
Speaking and Listening, 80
Spectrum (painting), 196
Speech, 100 ff
Speed, XXX ff
Speed and Nervousness, xxxiii
Spelling, 276
Spices, 236
Spider, 261
Spirit, xxii
Sponge, 258
Spools (paper work), 208
Spring Board, 175
Squirrel, 266
" Stage Coach," 76
Stammering, 102, 103
Standing Positions, 126
Stars (paper work), 213
Stars, 237, 252
Star Fish, 258
Stationery, 237
Stilts, 175
Stomach, 233
Stories, List of, III ff
Story Telling, xxv
" Stranger in Town," 57
String Work, 209 ff
Stuttering, 102, 103
St. Valentine's Day, 214
Sugar, 236
Sun, 237
Sun and Moon (drawing)
200
Swing, 17s
Syllabus of Information Les-
sons, 230 ff
Table (paper work), 202
Table Manners, 90
Tag, 179
Tasting, 36, 37
Tattling, 29
Teapot (modeling), 193
Teeter, 176
Teeth, 232
care of, 122
Temper, xxvii, xxviii
Ten Pins, 181
Tent (paper work), 204
Thanksgiving, 212
" The house that Jack built,"
149
" The lion and the unicorn," 146
" The man in the moon," 146
" The moon is round," 58
"The north wind doth blow,"
152
" The Queen of Hearts," 157
"There was a crooked man,"
152
"There was a little man," 159
" There was a man in our
town," 146
" There was an old woman,"
147
" There was an old woman,"
154
Thermometer, 252
"Thirty days hath September,"
242
" Thirty white horses," 68
"This little pig," 231
Thousand-legs, 261
Threading Needle, 73
Threats, xxiv, xxviii
" Three children sliding," 156
" Three wise men of Gotham,"
146
Throat, 232
Thunder, 253
298
Index
Tigers, 266
Time, 241
Time Limit, xxxi flf
Timely Topics, 91
"Time to rise" (song), 168
Toads, 262
Toeing Out, 127
"Tom he was a piper's son,"
144
Tools (drawing), 200
Toys, 178
Transportation, 247
Trapeze, 175
Tray (paper work), 207
Trees, 257, 258
Trolley, 175, 176
Trough (paper work), 206
Tug of War, 136-137
Tuning a String, 62
Tuning Glasses, 61
Turtle, 263
"Twinkle, little star" (song),
165
"Two Pigeons flymg high,"
236
Understanding and Counting,
Unselfishness, 81
Untangling a Snarl, 74
Upright Position, 125, 129
"Useful" (song), 167
Utensils, Kitchen (drawing),
200
Vegetables, 235
Vegetables (drawing), 198
Veins, 232
Vertical Writing, 270, 271
Violet (painting), 195
Voice, lOl
Walking, 132
Wallow, A, 175
Washboard (paper work), 203
Washington's Birthday, 215
Water, 235
Weather, 91
Weighing, 41
Weights, Measure of, 244
Weight, Table of, 123
Whale, 262
Whales, 265
" What Animal is it? " 61
"What are little boys made
of?" 157
What Do You Hear? 59
What Makes the Sound ? 60
Whispering in Company, 99
"Who killed Cock Robin?"
154 ff
Who Speaks? 60
Willow Plate, 236
Wind Mill (paper work), 207
Window, Stained Glass (paint-
ing), 196, 197
Wrapping Book, 214
Writing Position, 273, 274
Wolves, 266
Woolen Cloth, 234
Worms, 258
299
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES
THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
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